On Mr. Hall's Essays [Horae Vacivae, 1646]
Wits that matur'd by time have courted praise,Shall see their works outdone in these essays,And blush to know thy earlier years displayA dawning clearer than their brightest day.Yet I'll not praise thee, for thou hast outgrownThe reach of all men's praises but thine own.Encomiums to their objects are exact:To praise, and not at full, is to detract.And with most justice are the best forgot;For praise is bounded when the theme is not:Since mine is thus confin'd, and far belowThy merit, I forbear it, nor will showHow poor the autumnal pride of some appears,To the ripe fruit thy vernal season bears!Yet though I mean no praise, I come t'inviteThy forward aims still to advance their flight.Rise higher yet; what though thy spreading wreathLessen, to their dull sight who stay beneath?To thy full learning how can all allowJust praise, unless that all were learn'd as thou?Go on, in spite of such low souls, and mayThy growing worth know age, though not decay,Till thou pay back thy theft, and live to climbAs many years as thou hast snatch'd from Time.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- detract v. t.
- To take away; to withdraw. [L. detractus, p. p. of detrahere to detract; de + trahere to draw: cf. F. détracter. See Trace.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Mr. Hall's Essays [Horae Vacivae, 1646] 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 Mr. Hall's Essays [Horae Vacivae, 1646], in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/on-mr-hall-s-essays-horae-vacivae-1646.html, id L26168.
Form and metre
On Mr. Hall's Essays [Horae Vacivae, 1646] is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 92% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFF--GGHHIIBBJJ praiseA · essaysA · displayB · dayB · outgrownC · ownC · exactD · detractD · forgotE · notE · belowF · showF · appears · bears · t'inviteG · flightG · wreathH · beneathH · allowI · thouI · mayB · decayB · climbJ · timeJ
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Wits that matur'd by time have courted praise, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Shall see their works outdone in these essays, | 10 | ····//··˘/ |
| And blush to know thy earlier years display | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| A dawning clearer than their brightest day. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Yet I'll not praise thee, for thou hast outgrown | 10 | ·········/ |
| The reach of all men's praises but thine own. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Encomiums to their objects are exact: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To praise, and not at full, is to detract. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And with most justice are the best forgot; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| For praise is bounded when the theme is not: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Since mine is thus confin'd, and far below | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Thy merit, I forbear it, nor will show | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| How poor the autumnal pride of some appears, | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| To the ripe fruit thy vernal season bears! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Yet though I mean no praise, I come t'invite | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy forward aims still to advance their flight. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Rise higher yet; what though thy spreading wreath | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Lessen, to their dull sight who stay beneath? | 10 | /˘········ |
| To thy full learning how can all allow | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Just praise, unless that all were learn'd as thou? | 10 | ·········· |
| Go on, in spite of such low souls, and may | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy growing worth know age, though not decay, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Till thou pay back thy theft, and live to climb | 10 | ·········· |
| As many years as thou hast snatch'd from Time. | 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.