On Sir J S[Uckling] His Picture and Poems
Suckling, whose numbers could inviteAlike to wonder and delight,And with new spirit did inspireThe Thespian scene, and Delphic lyre,Is thus express'd in either part,Above the humble reach of Art.Drawn by the pencil, here you findHis form; by his own pen, his mind.
FAIRFAX].
If we are one, dear Friend! why shouldst thou beAt once unequal to thyself and me?By thy release thou swell'st my debt the more,And dost but rob thyself to make me poor.What part can I have in thy luminous cone,What flame, since my love's thine, can call my own,(The palest star is less the son of night,)Who but thy borrow'd know no native light?Was't not enough thou freely didst bestowThe Muse, but thou must[15:3] give the laurel too,And twice my aims by thy assistance raise,Conferring first the merit, then the praise?But I should do thee greater injury,Did I believe this praise were meant to me,Or thought, though thou hast worth enough to spareT'enrich another soul, that mine should share.Thy Muse, seeming to lend, calls home her fame,And her due wreath doth, in renouncing, claim.
Words in this poem
- thespian a.
- Of or pertaining to Thespis; hence, relating to the drama; dramatic; as, the Thespian art.
- delphic a.
- Of or relating to Delphi, or to the famous oracle of that place. [L. Delphicus, fr. Gr. Delphi, a town of Phocis, in Greece, now Kastri.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Sir J S[Uckling] His Picture and Poems 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 Sir J S[Uckling] His Picture and Poems, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/on-sir-j-s-uckling-his-picture-and-poems.html, id L08944.
Form and metre
On Sir J S[Uckling] His Picture and Poems is 27 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 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 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 AABBCCDD inviteA · delightA · inspireB · lyreB · partC · artC · findD · mindD
- 3 AA--BBCC--DD-AEEFF beA · meA · more · poor · coneB · ownB · nightC · lightC · bestow · too · raiseD · praiseD · injury · meA · spareE · shareE · fameF · claimF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Suckling, whose numbers could invite | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Alike to wonder and delight, | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And with new spirit did inspire | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The Thespian scene, and Delphic lyre, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is thus express'd in either part, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Above the humble reach of Art. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Drawn by the pencil, here you find | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His form; by his own pen, his mind. | 8 | ········ |
| FAIRFAX]. | 2 | /· |
| If we are one, dear Friend! why shouldst thou be | 10 | ·········· |
| At once unequal to thyself and me? | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| By thy release thou swell'st my debt the more, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And dost but rob thyself to make me poor. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| What part can I have in thy luminous cone, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| What flame, since my love's thine, can call my own, | 10 | ·········· |
| (The palest star is less the son of night,) | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Who but thy borrow'd know no native light? | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Was't not enough thou freely didst bestow | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| The Muse, but thou must[15:3] give the laurel too, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And twice my aims by thy assistance raise, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Conferring first the merit, then the praise? | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| But I should do thee greater injury, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Did I believe this praise were meant to me, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Or thought, though thou hast worth enough to spare | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| T'enrich another soul, that mine should share. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Thy Muse, seeming to lend, calls home her fame, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| And her due wreath doth, in renouncing, claim. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
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