To Stella
Tormented with incessant pains,Can I devise poetic strains?Time was, when I could yearly payMy verse to Stella's native day:But now unable grown to write,I grieve she ever saw the light.Ungrateful! since to her I oweThat I these pains can undergo.She tends me like an humble slave;And, when indecently I rave,When out my brutish passions break,With gall in every word I speak,She with soft speech my anguish cheers,Or melts my passions down with tears;Although 'tis easy to descryShe wants assistance more than I;Yet seems to feel my pains alone,And is a stoic in her own.When, among scholars, can we findSo soft and yet so firm a mind?All accidents of life conspireTo raise up Stella's virtue higher;Or else to introduce the restWhich had been latent in her breast.Her firmness who could e'er have known,Had she not evils of her own?Her kindness who could ever guess,Had not her friends been in distress?Whatever base returns you findFrom me, dear Stella, still be kind.In your own heart you'll reap the fruit,Though I continue still a brute.But, when I once am out of pain,I promise to be good again;Meantime, your other juster friendsShall for my follies make amends;So may we long continue thus,Admiring you, you pitying us.
Words in this poem
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
- undergo v. t.
- To go or move below or under. [AS. undergan. See Under, and Go.]
- indecently adv.
- In an indecent manner.
- brutish a.
- Pertaining to, or resembling, a brute or brutes; of a cruel, gross, and stupid nature; coarse; unfeeling; unintelligent.
- descry
- , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- 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,]
- admiring a.
- Expressing admiration; as, an admiring glance.
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Stella 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, To Stella, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/to-stella.html, id L09242.
Form and metre
To Stella is 38 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 84% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% 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. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEE----FFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNN--OOPP painsA · strainsA · payB · dayB · writeC · lightC · oweD · undergoD · slaveE · raveE · break · speak · cheers · tears · descryF · iF · aloneG · ownG · findH · mindH · conspireI · higherI · restJ · breastJ · knownK · ownK · guessL · distressL · findM · kindM · fruitN · bruteN · pain · again · friendsO · amendsO · thusP · usP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tormented with incessant pains, | 8 | /·˘·˘/˘· |
| Can I devise poetic strains? | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Time was, when I could yearly pay | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My verse to Stella's native day: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But now unable grown to write, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| I grieve she ever saw the light. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ungrateful! since to her I owe | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| That I these pains can undergo. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| She tends me like an humble slave; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And, when indecently I rave, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| When out my brutish passions break, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With gall in every word I speak, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She with soft speech my anguish cheers, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or melts my passions down with tears; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Although 'tis easy to descry | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| She wants assistance more than I; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Yet seems to feel my pains alone, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And is a stoic in her own. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When, among scholars, can we find | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So soft and yet so firm a mind? | 8 | ········ |
| All accidents of life conspire | 9 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| To raise up Stella's virtue higher; | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Or else to introduce the rest | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Which had been latent in her breast. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her firmness who could e'er have known, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Had she not evils of her own? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her kindness who could ever guess, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Had not her friends been in distress? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Whatever base returns you find | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| From me, dear Stella, still be kind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In your own heart you'll reap the fruit, | 8 | ········ |
| Though I continue still a brute. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| But, when I once am out of pain, | 8 | ········ |
| I promise to be good again; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Meantime, your other juster friends | 8 | /··/˘/˘· |
| Shall for my follies make amends; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| So may we long continue thus, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Admiring you, you pitying us. | 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.