The Snowball
Doris, I that could repelAll those darts about thee dwell,And had wisely learn'd to fear'Cause I saw a foe so near;I that my deaf ear did arm'Gainst thy voice's powerful charm;And the lightning of thine eyeDurst, by closing mine, defy;Cannot this cold snow withstandFrom the winter[42:1] of thy hand.Thy deceit hath thus done moreThan thy open force before:For who could suspect or fearTreason in a face so clear,Or the hidden fires descryWrapt in this cold outside lie?Flames might thus, involv'd in ice,The deceiv'd world sacrifice;Nature, ignorant of thisStrange antiperistasis,Would her falling frame admire,That by snow were set on fire!
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
- descry
- , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
- antiperistasis n.
- Opposition by which the quality opposed asquires strength; resistance or reaction roused by opposition or by the action of an opposite principle or quality.
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Snowball 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 Snowball, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/the-snowball.html, id L08971.
Form and metre
The Snowball is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFBBDDGG--HH repelA · dwellA · fearB · nearB · armC · charmC · eyeD · defyD · withstandE · handE · moreF · beforeF · fearB · clearB · descryD · lieD · iceG · sacrificeG · this · antiperistasis · admireH · fireH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Doris, I that could repel | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| All those darts about thee dwell, | 7 | ······· |
| And had wisely learn'd to fear | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Cause I saw a foe so near; | 7 | ······· |
| I that my deaf ear did arm | 7 | ······· |
| 'Gainst thy voice's powerful charm; | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| And the lightning of thine eye | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Durst, by closing mine, defy; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Cannot this cold snow withstand | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| From the winter[42:1] of thy hand. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Thy deceit hath thus done more | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Than thy open force before: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For who could suspect or fear | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Treason in a face so clear, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Or the hidden fires descry | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘/ |
| Wrapt in this cold outside lie? | 7 | ····//· |
| Flames might thus, involv'd in ice, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| The deceiv'd world sacrifice; | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Nature, ignorant of this | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Strange antiperistasis, | 7 | ······· |
| Would her falling frame admire, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| That by snow were set on fire! | 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.