On a Violet in Her Breast
See how this violet, which beforeHung sullenly her drooping head,As angry at the ground that boreThe purple treasure which she spread,Doth smilingly erected grow,Transplanted to those hills of snow.
And whilst the pillows of thy breastDo her reclining head sustain,She swells with pride to be so blest,And doth all other flowers disdain;Yet weeps that dew which kissed her last,To see her odours so surpass'd.
Poor flower! how far deceiv'd thou wert,To think the riches of the mornOr all the sweets she can impart.Could these or sweeten or adorn,Since thou from them dost borrow scent,And they to thee lend ornament!
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- smilingly adv.
- In a smiling manner.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On a Violet in Her Breast 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, On a Violet in Her Breast, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/on-a-violet-in-her-breast.html, id L08949.
Form and metre
On a Violet in Her Breast is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABCC beforeA · headB · boreA · spreadB · growC · snowC
- 2 ABABCC breastA · sustainB · blestA · disdainB · lastC · surpass'dC
- 3 -A-ABB wert · mornA · impart · adornA · scentB · ornamentB
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 violet, which before | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hung sullenly her drooping head, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As angry at the ground that bore | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The purple treasure which she spread, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Doth smilingly erected grow, | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Transplanted to those hills of snow. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And whilst the pillows of thy breast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Do her reclining head sustain, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| She swells with pride to be so blest, | 8 | ········ |
| And doth all other flowers disdain; | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| Yet weeps that dew which kissed her last, | 8 | ········ |
| To see her odours so surpass'd. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Poor flower! how far deceiv'd thou wert, | 8 | ·/··˘/·· |
| To think the riches of the morn | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or all the sweets she can impart. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Could these or sweeten or adorn, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Since thou from them dost borrow scent, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And they to thee lend ornament! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
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.