On This Swelling Bank
On this swelling bank, once proudOf its burden, Doris lay:Here she smil'd, and did uncloudThose bright suns eclipse the day;Here we sat, and with kind artShe about me twin'd her arms,Clasp'd in hers my hand and heart,Fetter'd in those pleasing charms.
Here my love and joys she crown'd,Whilst the hours stood still before me,With a killing glance did wound,And a melting kiss restore me.On the down of either breast,Whilst with joy my soul retir'd,My reclining head did rest,Till her lips new life inspir'd.
Thus, renewing of these sightsDoth with grief and pleasure fill me,And the thought of these delightsBoth at once revive and kill me!
Words in this poem
- uncloud v. t.
- To free from clouds; to unvail; to clear from obscurity, gloom, sorrow, or the like. Beau. & Fl. [1st pref. un- + cloud.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On This Swelling Bank 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 This Swelling Bank, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/on-this-swelling-bank.html, id L08935.
Form and metre
On This Swelling Bank is 20 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCDCD proudA · layB · uncloudA · dayB · artC · armsD · heartC · charmsD
- 2 ABABCDCD crown'dA · meB · woundA · meB · breastC · retir'dD · restC · inspir'dD
- 3 ABAB sightsA · meB · delightsA · meB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On this swelling bank, once proud | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of its burden, Doris lay: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Here she smil'd, and did uncloud | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Those bright suns eclipse the day; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Here we sat, and with kind art | 7 | ······· |
| She about me twin'd her arms, | 7 | ······· |
| Clasp'd in hers my hand and heart, | 7 | ······· |
| Fetter'd in those pleasing charms. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Here my love and joys she crown'd, | 7 | ······· |
| Whilst the hours stood still before me, | 8 | ··/····· |
| With a killing glance did wound, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And a melting kiss restore me. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| On the down of either breast, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Whilst with joy my soul retir'd, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| My reclining head did rest, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Till her lips new life inspir'd. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Thus, renewing of these sights | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Doth with grief and pleasure fill me, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And the thought of these delights | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Both at once revive and kill me! | 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.