Counsel
When deceitful lovers layAt thy feet their suppliant hearts,And their snares spread to betrayThy best treasure[22:1] with their arts,Credit not their flatt'ring vows:Love such perjury allows.
When they with the[22:2] choicest wealthNature boasts of, have possess'd thee;When with flowers (their verses' stealth),Stars, or jewels they invest thee,Trust not to their borrow'd store:'Tis but lent to make thee poor.
When with poems[22:4] they invade thee,Sing thy praises or disdain;When they weep, and would persuade theeThat their flames beget that rain;Let thy breast no baits let in:Mercy's only here a sin!
Let no tears or offerings move thee,All those cunning charms avoid;For that wealth for which they love thee,They would slight if once enjoy'd.Guard thy unrelenting mind! }None are cruel but the kind. }
Words in this poem
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- stealth n.
- The act of stealing; theft. [OE. staple. See Steal, v. t.]
- avoid v. t.
- To empty. Wyclif. [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.]
- unrelenting a.
- Not relenting; unyielding; rigid; hard; stern; cruel.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Counsel is in the public domain. This text is taken from Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics, Complete, In Their Collated Readings of 1647, 1651, 1657. With an Introduction, Textual Notes, a List of Editions, an Appendix of Translations, and a Portrait., Project Gutenberg ebook #32986; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Stanley, Counsel, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/counsel.html, id L08952.
Form and metre
Counsel is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABCC layA · heartsB · betrayA · artsB · vowsC · allowsC
- 2 ABAB-- wealthA · theeB · stealthA · theeB · store · poor
- 3 ABABCC theeA · disdainB · theeA · rainB · inC · sinC
- 4 ABABCC theeA · avoidB · theeA · enjoy'dB · — · —
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When deceitful lovers lay | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| At thy feet their suppliant hearts, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And their snares spread to betray | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Thy best treasure[22:1] with their arts, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Credit not their flatt'ring vows: | 7 | /˘····· |
| Love such perjury allows. | 7 | ··/˘˘˘/ |
| When they with the[22:2] choicest wealth | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Nature boasts of, have possess'd thee; | 8 | /˘···˘/· |
| When with flowers (their verses' stealth), | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Stars, or jewels they invest thee, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Trust not to their borrow'd store: | 7 | ····/·· |
| 'Tis but lent to make thee poor. | 7 | ······· |
| When with poems[22:4] they invade thee, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Sing thy praises or disdain; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| When they weep, and would persuade thee | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| That their flames beget that rain; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Let thy breast no baits let in: | 7 | ······· |
| Mercy's only here a sin! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Let no tears or offerings move thee, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| All those cunning charms avoid; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| For that wealth for which they love thee, | 8 | ········ |
| They would slight if once enjoy'd. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Guard thy unrelenting mind! } | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| None are cruel but the kind. } | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.