Fontinella to Florinda
When on my bosom thy bright eyes,Florinda, dart their heavenly beams,I feel not the least love surprise,Yet endless tears flow down in streams;There's nought so beautiful in thee,But you may find the same in me.
The lilies of thy skin compare;In me you see them full as white:The roses of your cheeks, I dareAffirm, can't glow to more delight.Then, since I show as fine a face,Can you refuse a soft embrace?
Ah! lovely nymph, thou'rt in thy prime!And so am I, while thou art here;But soon will come the fatal time,When all we see shall disappear.'Tis mine to make a just reflection,And yours to follow my direction.
Then catch admirers while you may;Treat not your lovers with disdain;For time with beauty flies away,And there is no return again.To you the sad account I bring,Life's autumn has no second spring.
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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fontinella to Florinda is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #13621; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, Fontinella to Florinda, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/fontinella-to-florinda.html, id L09263.
Form and metre
Fontinella to Florinda is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ABABCC eyesA · beamsB · surpriseA · streamsB · theeC · meC
- 2 ABABCC compareA · whiteB · dareA · delightB · faceC · embraceC
- 3 ABABCC primeA · hereB · timeA · disappearB · reflectionC · directionC
- 4 ABABCC mayA · disdainB · awayA · againB · bringC · springC
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 my bosom thy bright eyes, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Florinda, dart their heavenly beams, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| I feel not the least love surprise, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Yet endless tears flow down in streams; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| There's nought so beautiful in thee, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| But you may find the same in me. | 8 | ········ |
| The lilies of thy skin compare; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| In me you see them full as white: | 8 | ········ |
| The roses of your cheeks, I dare | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Affirm, can't glow to more delight. | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Then, since I show as fine a face, | 8 | ········ |
| Can you refuse a soft embrace? | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Ah! lovely nymph, thou'rt in thy prime! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And so am I, while thou art here; | 8 | ········ |
| But soon will come the fatal time, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When all we see shall disappear. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'Tis mine to make a just reflection, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And yours to follow my direction. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Then catch admirers while you may; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Treat not your lovers with disdain; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For time with beauty flies away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And there is no return again. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| To you the sad account I bring, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Life's autumn has no second spring. | 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.