The Repulse
Not that by this disdainI am releas'd,And, freed from thy romantic[37:1] chain,Do I myself think blest;
Not that thy flame shall burnNo more; for knowThat I shall into ashes turnBefore this fire doth so.
Nor yet that unconfin'dI now may rove,And with new beauties please my mind;But that thou ne'er didst love!
For since thou hast no partFelt of this flame,I only from thy tyrant heartRepuls'd, not banish'd, am.
To lose what once was mineWould grieve me moreThan those inconstant sweets of thineHad pleas'd my soul before.
Now I've not lost that[37:2] blissI ne'er possessed;And, spite of Fate, am blest in this:That I was never blest.
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,]
- 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
The Repulse 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 Repulse, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/the-repulse.html, id L08966.
Form and metre
The Repulse is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-A- disdainA · releas'd · chainA · blest
- 2 ABAB burnA · knowB · turnA · soB
- 3 A-A- unconfin'dA · rove · mindA · love
- 4 A-A- partA · flame · heartA · am
- 5 ABAB mineA · moreB · thineA · beforeB
- 6 ABAB blissA · possessedB · thisA · blestB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Not that by this disdain | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I am releas'd, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And, freed from thy romantic[37:1] chain, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Do I myself think blest; | 6 | ···/·· |
| Not that thy flame shall burn | 6 | ······ |
| No more; for know | 4 | ···· |
| That I shall into ashes turn | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Before this fire doth so. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Nor yet that unconfin'd | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I now may rove, | 4 | ···· |
| And with new beauties please my mind; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But that thou ne'er didst love! | 6 | ······ |
| For since thou hast no part | 6 | ······ |
| Felt of this flame, | 4 | ···· |
| I only from thy tyrant heart | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Repuls'd, not banish'd, am. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| To lose what once was mine | 6 | ······ |
| Would grieve me more | 4 | ···· |
| Than those inconstant sweets of thine | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Had pleas'd my soul before. | 6 | ······ |
| Now I've not lost that[37:2] bliss | 6 | ······ |
| I ne'er possessed; | 4 | ··˘/ |
| And, spite of Fate, am blest in this: | 8 | ········ |
| That I was never blest. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.