Invitation to the Dance
Cast aside dull books and thought;Sweet is folly, sweet is play:Take the pleasure Spring hath broughtIn youth's opening holiday!Right it is old age should ponderOn grave matters fraught with care;Tender youth is free to wander,Free to frolic light as air.Like a dream our prime is flown,Prisoned in a study:Sport and folly are youth's own,Tender youth and ruddy.
Lo, the Spring of life slips by,Frozen Winter comes apace;Strength is 'minished silently,Care writes wrinkles on our face:Blood dries up and courage fails us,Pleasures dwindle, joys decrease,Till old age at length assails usWith his troop of illnesses.Like a dream our prime is flown,Prisoned in a study;Sport and folly are youth's own,Tender youth and ruddy.
Live we like the gods above;This is wisdom, this is truth:Chase the joys of tender loveIn the leisure of our youth!Keep the vows we swore together,Lads, obey that ordinance;Seek the fields in sunny weather,Where the laughing maidens dance.Like a dream our prime is flown,Prisoned in a study;Sport and folly are youth's own,Tender youth and ruddy.
There the lad who lists may seeWhich among the maids is kind:There young limbs deliciouslyFlashing through the dances wind:While the girls their arms are raising,Moving, winding o'er the lea,Still I stand and gaze, and gazingThey have stolen the soul of me!Like a dream our prime is flown,Prisoned in a study;Sport and folly are youth's own,Tender youth and ruddy.
Words in this poem
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- dwindle v. i.
- To diminish; to become less; to shrink; to waste or consume away; to become degenerate; to fall away. [From OE. dwinen to languish, waste away, AS. dwinan; akin to LG. dwinen, D. dwijnen to vanish, Icel. dvina to cease, dwindle, Sw. tvina; of uncertain origin. Th]
- ordinance n.
- Orderly arrangement; preparation; provision. [OE. ordenance, OF. ordenance, F. ordonnance. See Ordain, and cf. Ordnance, Ordonnance.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- deliciously adv.
- Delightfully; as, to feed deliciously; to be deliciously entertained.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Invitation to the Dance is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wine, Women, and Song Mediaeval Latin Students' songs; Now first translated into English verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #18044; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Addington Symonds, Invitation to the Dance, in Wine, Women and Song (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18044, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/symonds-wine-women/invitation-to-the-dance.html, id L11829.
Form and metre
Invitation to the Dance is 48 lines in 4 stanzas of 12 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEF, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 18 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABABCDCDEFEF thoughtA · playB · broughtA · holidayB · ponderC · careD · wanderC · airD · flownE · studyF · ownE · ruddyF
- 2 -A-AB-B-CDCD by · apaceA · silently · faceA · usB · decrease · usB · illnesses · flownC · studyD · ownC · ruddyD
- 3 ABABCDCDEFEF aboveA · truthB · loveA · youthB · togetherC · ordinanceD · weatherC · danceD · flownE · studyF · ownE · ruddyF
- 4 AB-BCACADEDE seeA · kindB · deliciously · windB · raisingC · leaA · gazingC · meA · flownD · studyE · ownD · ruddyE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cast aside dull books and thought; | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Sweet is folly, sweet is play: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Take the pleasure Spring hath brought | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In youth's opening holiday! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Right it is old age should ponder | 8 | ······/˘ |
| On grave matters fraught with care; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tender youth is free to wander, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Free to frolic light as air. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Like a dream our prime is flown, | 7 | ···/··· |
| Prisoned in a study: | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| Sport and folly are youth's own, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tender youth and ruddy. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Lo, the Spring of life slips by, | 7 | ······· |
| Frozen Winter comes apace; | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Strength is 'minished silently, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Care writes wrinkles on our face: | 7 | ··/˘·/· |
| Blood dries up and courage fails us, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Pleasures dwindle, joys decrease, | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Till old age at length assails us | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| With his troop of illnesses. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Like a dream our prime is flown, | 7 | ···/··· |
| Prisoned in a study; | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| Sport and folly are youth's own, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tender youth and ruddy. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Live we like the gods above; | 7 | ······· |
| This is wisdom, this is truth: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Chase the joys of tender love | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In the leisure of our youth! | 7 | ··/˘·/· |
| Keep the vows we swore together, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Lads, obey that ordinance; | 7 | ·˘/·/˘˘ |
| Seek the fields in sunny weather, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Where the laughing maidens dance. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Like a dream our prime is flown, | 7 | ···/··· |
| Prisoned in a study; | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| Sport and folly are youth's own, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tender youth and ruddy. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| There the lad who lists may see | 7 | ······· |
| Which among the maids is kind: | 7 | ······· |
| There young limbs deliciously | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Flashing through the dances wind: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| While the girls their arms are raising, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Moving, winding o'er the lea, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Still I stand and gaze, and gazing | 8 | ······/˘ |
| They have stolen the soul of me! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Like a dream our prime is flown, | 7 | ···/··· |
| Prisoned in a study; | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| Sport and folly are youth's own, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Tender youth and ruddy. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
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