The Kiss
When on thy lip my soul I breathe,Which there meets thine,Freed from their fetters by this death,Our subtle forms[41:2] combine:Thus without bonds of sense they move,And like two cherubim converse by[41:3] love.
Spirits to chains of earth confin'dDiscourse by sense;But ours, that are by flames refin'd,With those weak ties dispense.Let such in words their minds display:We in a kiss our mutual thoughts convey.
But since my soul from me doth fly,To thee retir'd,Thou canst not both retain; for IMust be with one inspir'd;Then, Dearest,[41:5] either justly mineRestore, or in exchange let me have thine.
Yet if thou dost return mine own,O tak't again!For 'tis this pleasing death aloneGives ease unto my pain.Kill me once more, or I shall findThy pity than thy cruelty less kind.
Words in this poem
- cherubim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Cherub.. Cf. Seraphim.
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Kiss 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 Kiss, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/the-kiss.html, id L08970.
Form and metre
The Kiss is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% 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 -A-ABB breathe · thineA · death · combineA · moveB · loveB
- 2 ABABCC confin'dA · senseB · refin'dA · dispenseB · displayC · conveyC
- 3 ABABCC flyA · retir'dB · iA · inspir'dB · mineC · thineC
- 4 ABABCC ownA · againB · aloneA · painB · findC · kindC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When on thy lip my soul I breathe, | 8 | ········ |
| Which there meets thine, | 4 | ···· |
| Freed from their fetters by this death, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our subtle forms[41:2] combine: | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Thus without bonds of sense they move, | 8 | ········ |
| And like two cherubim converse by[41:3] love. | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Spirits to chains of earth confin'd | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Discourse by sense; | 4 | /˘·· |
| But ours, that are by flames refin'd, | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| With those weak ties dispense. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Let such in words their minds display: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| We in a kiss our mutual thoughts convey. | 10 | ····//˘·˘/ |
| But since my soul from me doth fly, | 8 | ········ |
| To thee retir'd, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Thou canst not both retain; for I | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Must be with one inspir'd; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Then, Dearest,[41:5] either justly mine | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Restore, or in exchange let me have thine. | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| Yet if thou dost return mine own, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| O tak't again! | 4 | ··˘/ |
| For 'tis this pleasing death alone | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Gives ease unto my pain. | 6 | ······ |
| Kill me once more, or I shall find | 8 | ········ |
| Thy pity than thy cruelty less kind. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
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.