Love's Innocence
See how this ivy strives to twineHer wanton arms about the vine,And her coy lover thus restrains,Entangled in her amorous chains;See how these neighb'ring palms do bendTheir heads, and mutual murmurs send,As whispering with a jealous fearTheir loves into each other's ear.Then blush not such a flame to own }As, like thyself, no crime hath known; }Led by these harmless guides, we may }Embrace and kiss as well as they. }And like those blessed souls above,Whose life is harmony and love,Let us our mutual thoughts betray,And in our wills our minds display.This silent speech is swifter farThan the ears' lazy species are;And the expression it affords(As our desires,) 'bove reach of words.Thus we, my Dear, of these may learnA passion others not discern;Nor can it shame or blushes move,Like plants to live, like angels love:Since all excuse with equal innocenceWhat above reason is, or beneath sense.
Words in this poem
- swifter v. t.
- To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love's Innocence 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's Innocence, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/love-s-innocence.html, id L08938.
Form and metre
Love's Innocence is 26 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 92% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic 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 AABBCCDDEEEEFFGGHH--IIFFJJ twineA · vineA · restrainsB · chainsB · bendC · sendC · fearD · earD · — · — · — · — · aboveF · loveF · betrayG · displayG · farH · areH · affords · words · learnI · discernI · moveF · loveF · innocenceJ · senseJ
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| See how this ivy strives to twine | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her wanton arms about the vine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And her coy lover thus restrains, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Entangled in her amorous chains; | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| See how these neighb'ring palms do bend | 8 | ········ |
| Their heads, and mutual murmurs send, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As whispering with a jealous fear | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Their loves into each other's ear. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then blush not such a flame to own } | 8 | ········ |
| As, like thyself, no crime hath known; } | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Led by these harmless guides, we may } | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Embrace and kiss as well as they. } | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And like those blessed souls above, | 8 | ····˘··· |
| Whose life is harmony and love, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Let us our mutual thoughts betray, | 8 | ··//˘·˘/ |
| And in our wills our minds display. | 8 | ··/·/·˘/ |
| This silent speech is swifter far | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Than the ears' lazy species are; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And the expression it affords | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| (As our desires,) 'bove reach of words. | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Thus we, my Dear, of these may learn | 8 | ········ |
| A passion others not discern; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Nor can it shame or blushes move, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Like plants to live, like angels love: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Since all excuse with equal innocence | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| What above reason is, or beneath sense. | 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.