The Return
Beauty, whose soft magnetic chainsNor time nor absence can untie,Thy power the narrow bound[32:2] disdainsOf Nature or Philosophy;Thou[32:3] canst by unconfined lawsA motion, though at distance, cause.
Drawn by the powerful[32:4] influenceOf thy bright eyes, I back return;And since I nowhere can dispenseWith flames that[32:5] do in absence burn,I rather choose 'twixt[32:6] them t'expire,Than languish by a hidden fire.
But if thou th'[32:7] insulting prideOf vulgar beauties dost despise,Who, by vain triumphs deified,Their votaries do sacrifice,Then let those flames, whose magic charmAt distance scorch'd, approach'd, but warm.
Words in this poem
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Return 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 Return, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/the-return.html, id L08962.
Form and metre
The Return is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% 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-A-BB chainsA · untie · disdainsA · philosophy · lawsB · causeB
- 2 ABABCC influenceA · returnB · dispenseA · burnB · t'expireC · fireC
- 3 A-A--- prideA · despise · deifiedA · sacrifice · charm · warm
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty, whose soft magnetic chains | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Nor time nor absence can untie, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Thy power the narrow bound[32:2] disdains | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| Of Nature or Philosophy; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Thou[32:3] canst by unconfined laws | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| A motion, though at distance, cause. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Drawn by the powerful[32:4] influence | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Of thy bright eyes, I back return; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And since I nowhere can dispense | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| With flames that[32:5] do in absence burn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I rather choose 'twixt[32:6] them t'expire, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Than languish by a hidden fire. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| But if thou th'[32:7] insulting pride | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Of vulgar beauties dost despise, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Who, by vain triumphs deified, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Their votaries do sacrifice, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Then let those flames, whose magic charm | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At distance scorch'd, approach'd, but warm. | 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.