The One
No, no; this is not true; my lips spoke only what my heart believed.Called I the world a toy; I spoke not echo-like or self-deceived.But that I thought the toy was mine to play with, and the passing showWould sate at least my passing lusts, and did not, therefore amI grieved.
What did I do that I must bear this lifelong tyranny of my fate,That I must writhe in bonds unsought of accidental love and hate?Had chance but joined different dice, but once or twice,but once or twice,All lovely things that I desired I should have held before too late.
Surely I knew that flesh was grass nor valued overmuch the prize,But all the powers of chance conspired to cheat a man both just and wise.Happy I'd been had I but had my due reward, and not a swordFlaming in diabolic hand between me and my Paradise.
Words in this poem
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- lifelong a.
- Lasting or continuing through life. [Life + long. Cf. Livelong.]
- diabolic a.
- Pertaining to the devil; resembling, or appropriate, or appropriate to, the devil; devilish; infernal; impious; atrocious; nefarious; outrageously wicked; as, a diabolic or diabolical temper or act. [L. diabolicus, Gr. diabolique. See Devil.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The One is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems - First Series, Project Gutenberg ebook #37860; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Collings Squire, The One, in Poems: First Series (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37860, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/squire-poems/the-one-3.html, id L23164.
Form and metre
The One is 14 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines. The metre is iambic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic octameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AA--A believedA · deceivedA · show · am · grievedA
- 2 AABBA fateA · hateA · twiceB · twiceB · lateA
- 3 AA-- prizeA · wiseA · sword · paradise
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| No, no; this is not true; my lips spoke only what my heart believed. | 16 | ·········/˘···˘/ |
| Called I the world a toy; I spoke not echo-like or self-deceived. | 16 | ·········/˘···˘/ |
| But that I thought the toy was mine to play with, and the passing show | 16 | ·············/˘· |
| Would sate at least my passing lusts, and did not, therefore am | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| I grieved. | 2 | ·· |
| What did I do that I must bear this lifelong tyranny of my fate, | 16 | ·········///˘··· |
| That I must writhe in bonds unsought of accidental love and hate? | 16 | ··········˘/˘··· |
| Had chance but joined different dice, but once or twice, | 12 | ····/˘˘····· |
| but once or twice, | 4 | ···· |
| All lovely things that I desired I should have held before too late. | 16 | ·/˘···˘/········ |
| Surely I knew that flesh was grass nor valued overmuch the prize, | 16 | /˘·······/˘/˘˘·· |
| But all the powers of chance conspired to cheat a man both just and wise. | 16 | ···/··˘/········ |
| Happy I'd been had I but had my due reward, and not a sword | 16 | /˘········˘/···· |
| Flaming in diabolic hand between me and my Paradise. | 15 | /˘··········/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.