Laurel · Thomas Stanley · Original Lyrics

The Glow-Worm

Thomas Stanley (1625–1678) · 1651

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 33 lines · from Original Lyrics

Stay, fairest Chariessa, stay and markThis animated gem,[6:1] whose fainter sparkOf fading light, its birth had from the dark:

A star thought by the erring[6:2] passengerWhich falling from its native orb, dropped here,And makes the earth, its centre, now its sphere.

Should many of these sparks together be,He that the unknown light far off should seeWould think it a terrestrial galaxy.

Take 't up, fair Saint; see how it mocks thy fright;The paler flame doth not yield heat, though light,Which thus deceives[6:3] thy reason, through thy sight.

But see how quickly it, ta'en up, doth fade,(To shine in darkness only being made),By th' brightness of thy light turn'd to a shade,

And burnt to ashes by thy flaming eyes!On the chaste altar of thy hand it dies,As to thy greater light a sacrifice.

These papers, Chariessa, let thy breathCondemn, thy hand unto the flames bequeath;'Tis fit who gave them life, should give them death.

And whilst[7:2] in curled flames to heaven they rise,Each trembling sheet shall, as it upwards flies,Present itself to thee a sacrifice.

Then when above[7:3] its native orb it came,And reach'd the lesser lights o' th' sky, this flame,Contracted to a star, should wear thy name,

Or falling down on earth from its bright sphere,Shall in a diamond's shape its lustre bear,And trouble (as it did before) thine ear.

But thou wilt cruel even in mercy be,Unequal in thy justice, who dost freeThings without sense from flames, and yet not me!

Words in this poem

fading n.: An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
centre v. i.: To be placed in a center; to be central.
bequeath v. t.: To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [OE. biquethen, AS. becwe to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cwe to say, speak. See Quoth.]
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,]
lustre n.: A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Glow-Worm 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, The Glow-Worm, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/the-glow-worm.html, id L08940.

Form and metre

The Glow-Worm is 33 lines in 11 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 61% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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 AAA mark^A · spark^A · dark^A
2 -AA passenger · here^A · sphere^A
3 AA- be^A · see^A · galaxy
4 AAA fright^A · light^A · sight^A
5 AAA fade^A · made^A · shade^A
6 AA- eyes^A · dies^A · sacrifice
7 A-A breath^A · bequeath · death^A
8 AA- rise^A · flies^A · sacrifice
9 AAA came^A · flame^A · name^A
10 AAA sphere^A · bear^A · ear^A
11 AAA be^A · free^A · me^A

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
Stay, fairest Chariessa, stay and mark	9	·/˘······
This animated gem,[6:1] whose fainter spark	10	·/˘·˘··/˘·
Of fading light, its birth had from the dark:	10	·/˘·······
A star thought by the erring[6:2] passenger	10	·····/˘/˘˘
Which falling from its native orb, dropped here,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And makes the earth, its centre, now its sphere.	10	·····/˘···
Should many of these sparks together be,	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
He that the unknown light far off should see	10	···˘/·····
Would think it a terrestrial galaxy.	11	····˘/˘˘/˘˘
Take 't up, fair Saint; see how it mocks thy fright;	11	···········
The paler flame doth not yield heat, though light,	10	··········
Which thus deceives[6:3] thy reason, through thy sight.	10	··˘/·/˘···
But see how quickly it, ta'en up, doth fade,	10	···/˘·····
(To shine in darkness only being made),	10	···/˘/˘/˘·
By th' brightness of thy light turn'd to a shade,	10	·/˘·······
And burnt to ashes by thy flaming eyes!	10	···/˘··/˘·
On the chaste altar of thy hand it dies,	10	···/˘·····
As to thy greater light a sacrifice.	10	···/˘··/˘·
These papers, Chariessa, let thy breath	9	·/˘······
Condemn, thy hand unto the flames bequeath;	10	˘/······˘/
'Tis fit who gave them life, should give them death.	10	··········
And whilst[7:2] in curled flames to heaven they rise,	10	······/˘··
Each trembling sheet shall, as it upwards flies,	10	·/˘····/˘·
Present itself to thee a sacrifice.	10	˘/˘/···/˘·
Then when above[7:3] its native orb it came,	10	·····/˘···
And reach'd the lesser lights o' th' sky, this flame,	10	···/˘·····
Contracted to a star, should wear thy name,	10	/˘˘·······
Or falling down on earth from its bright sphere,	10	·/˘·······
Shall in a diamond's shape its lustre bear,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And trouble (as it did before) thine ear.	10	·/˘·······
But thou wilt cruel even in mercy be,	10	···//˘·/˘·
Unequal in thy justice, who dost free	10	˘/˘··/˘···
Things without sense from flames, and yet not me!	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.

More by Thomas Stanley

Original Lyrics