Love Deposed
You that unto your mistress' eyesYour hearts do sacrifice,And offer sighs or tears at Love's rich shrine,Renounce with meTh' idolatry,Nor this infernal power esteem divine!
The brand, the quiver, and the bow,Which we did first bestow,And he as tribute wears from every lover,I back againFrom him have ta'en,And the impostor now unveil'd discover.
I can the feeble Child disarm,Untie his mystic charm,Divest him of his wings, and break his arrow;We will obeyNo more his sway,Nor live confin'd to laws or bounds so narrow
And you, bright Beauties, that inspireThe Boy's pale torch with fire,We safely now your subtle power despise,And unscorch'd may,Like atoms, playAnd wanton in the sunshine of your eyes.
Nor think hereafter by new artsYou can bewitch our hearts,Or raise this devil by your pleasing charm:We will no moreHis power implore,Unless, like Indians, that he do no harm.
Words in this poem
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- disarm v. t.
- To deprive of arms; to take away the weapons of; to deprive of the means of attack or defense; to render defenseless. [OE. desarmen, F. désarmer; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + armer to arm. See Arm.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love Deposed 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, Love Deposed, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/love-deposed.html, id L08977.
Form and metre
Love Deposed is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 --A--A eyes · sacrifice · shrineA · me · idolatry · divineA
- 2 AAB--B bowA · bestowA · loverB · again · ta'en · discoverB
- 3 AABCCB disarmA · charmA · arrowB · obeyC · swayC · narrowB
- 4 AABCCB inspireA · fireA · despiseB · mayC · playC · eyesB
- 5 AABCCB artsA · heartsA · charmB · moreC · imploreC · harmB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You that unto your mistress' eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Your hearts do sacrifice, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And offer sighs or tears at Love's rich shrine, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Renounce with me | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Th' idolatry, | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Nor this infernal power esteem divine! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘/ |
| The brand, the quiver, and the bow, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which we did first bestow, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And he as tribute wears from every lover, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| I back again | 4 | ··˘/ |
| From him have ta'en, | 4 | ···· |
| And the impostor now unveil'd discover. | 11 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| I can the feeble Child disarm, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Untie his mystic charm, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Divest him of his wings, and break his arrow; | 11 | ˘/·······/˘ |
| We will obey | 4 | ··˘/ |
| No more his sway, | 4 | ···· |
| Nor live confin'd to laws or bounds so narrow | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| And you, bright Beauties, that inspire | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The Boy's pale torch with fire, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| We safely now your subtle power despise, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/ |
| And unscorch'd may, | 4 | ···· |
| Like atoms, play | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And wanton in the sunshine of your eyes. | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Nor think hereafter by new arts | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| You can bewitch our hearts, | 7 | ··˘//˘· |
| Or raise this devil by your pleasing charm: | 9 | ···/··/˘· |
| We will no more | 4 | ···· |
| His power implore, | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| Unless, like Indians, that he do no harm. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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.