Desire
For giving me desire,An eager thirst, a burning ardent fire,A virgin infant flame,A Love with which into the world I came,An inward hidden heavenly love,Which in my soul did work and move,And ever me inflameWith restless longing, heavenly avarice,That never could be satisfied,That did incessantly a ParadiseUnknown suggest, and something undescriedDiscern, and bear me to it; beThy Name for ever praised by me.
My parched and withered bonesBurnt up did seem: my soul was full of groans:My thoughts extensions were:Like paces, reaches, steps they did appear:They somewhat hotly did pursue,Knew that they had not all their due,Nor ever quiet were:But made my flesh like hungry, thirsty ground,My heart a deep profound abyss,And every joy and pleasure but a wound,So long as I my Blessedness did miss.O Happiness! A famine burns,And all my life to anguish turns!
Where are the silent streams,The living waters and the glorious beams,The sweet reviving bowers,The shady groves, the sweet and curious flowers,The springs and trees, the heavenly days,The flow'ry meads, and glorious rays,The gold and silver towers?Alas! all these are poor and empty things!Trees, waters, days, and shining beams,Fruits, flowers, bowers, shady groves and springs,No joy will yield, no more than silent streams;Those are but dead material toys,And cannot make my heavenly joys.
O Love! Ye amities,And friendships that appear above the skies!Ye feasts and living pleasures!Ye senses, honours, and imperial treasures!Ye bridal joys! ye high delightsThat satisfy all appetites!Ye sweet affections, andYe high respects! Whatever joys there beIn triumphs, whatsoever standIn amicable sweet society,Whatever pleasures are at His right hand,Ye must before I am divine,In full propriety be mine.
This soaring, sacred thirst,Ambassador of bliss, approached first,Making a place in meThat made me apt to prize, and taste, and see.For not the objects but the senseOf things doth bliss to souls dispense,And make it, Lord, like thee,Sense, feeling, taste, complacency, and sight,These are the true and real joys,The living, flowing, inward, melting, bright,And heavenly pleasures; all the rest are toys:All which are founded in Desire,As light in flame and heat in fire.
Words in this poem
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
- incessantly adv.
- Unceasingly; continually.
- hotly adv.
- In a hot or fiery manner; ardently; vehemently; violently; hastily; as, a hotly pursued. [From Hot, a.]
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- amicable a.
- Friendly; proceeding from, or exhibiting, friendliness; after the manner of friends; peaceable; as, an amicable disposition, or arrangement. [L. amicabilis, fr. amicus friend, fr. amare to love. See Amiable.]
- propriety n.
- Individual right to hold property; ownership by personal title; property. [F. propriété, L. proprietas, fr. proprius one's own, proper. See Property, Proper.]
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- complacency n.
- Calm contentment; satisfaction; gratification. [LL. complacentia: cf. F. complaisance. See Complacent, and cf. Complaisance.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Desire is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne, 1636?-1674, from the original manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #61586; 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 Traherne, Desire, in Poetical Works (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #61586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/traherne-poems/desire.html, id L13325.
Form and metre
Desire is 65 lines in 5 stanzas of 13 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABBCCBDEDEFF, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCBDEDEFF desireA · fireA · flameB · cameB · loveC · moveC · inflameB · avariceD · satisfiedE · paradiseD · undescriedE · beF · meF
- 2 AAB-CCBDEDEFF bonesA · groansA · wereB · appear · pursueC · dueC · wereB · groundD · abyssE · woundD · missE · burnsF · turnsF
- 3 AABBCCBDADAEE streamsA · beamsA · bowersB · flowersB · daysC · raysC · towersB · thingsD · beamsA · springsD · streamsA · toysE · joysE
- 4 AABBCCD-D-DEE amitiesA · skiesA · pleasuresB · treasuresB · delightsC · appetitesC · andD · be · standD · society · handD · divineE · mineE
- 5 AABBCCBDEDEFF thirstA · firstA · meB · seeB · senseC · dispenseC · theeB · sightD · joysE · brightD · toysE · desireF · fireF
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| For giving me desire, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| An eager thirst, a burning ardent fire, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| A virgin infant flame, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| A Love with which into the world I came, | 10 | ·········· |
| An inward hidden heavenly love, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Which in my soul did work and move, | 8 | ········ |
| And ever me inflame | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| With restless longing, heavenly avarice, | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| That never could be satisfied, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That did incessantly a Paradise | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Unknown suggest, and something undescried | 9 | ˘/˘/·/˘·· |
| Discern, and bear me to it; be | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Thy Name for ever praised by me. | 9 | ···/˘·˘·· |
| My parched and withered bones | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Burnt up did seem: my soul was full of groans: | 10 | ·········· |
| My thoughts extensions were: | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Like paces, reaches, steps they did appear: | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| They somewhat hotly did pursue, | 8 | ·///˘·˘/ |
| Knew that they had not all their due, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor ever quiet were: | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| But made my flesh like hungry, thirsty ground, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| My heart a deep profound abyss, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| And every joy and pleasure but a wound, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| So long as I my Blessedness did miss. | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| O Happiness! A famine burns, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And all my life to anguish turns! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where are the silent streams, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The living waters and the glorious beams, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The sweet reviving bowers, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| The shady groves, the sweet and curious flowers, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| The springs and trees, the heavenly days, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| The flow'ry meads, and glorious rays, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| The gold and silver towers? | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Alas! all these are poor and empty things! | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Trees, waters, days, and shining beams, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Fruits, flowers, bowers, shady groves and springs, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| No joy will yield, no more than silent streams; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Those are but dead material toys, | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| And cannot make my heavenly joys. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| O Love! Ye amities, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And friendships that appear above the skies! | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Ye feasts and living pleasures! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Ye senses, honours, and imperial treasures! | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Ye bridal joys! ye high delights | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| That satisfy all appetites! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ye sweet affections, and | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Ye high respects! Whatever joys there be | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| In triumphs, whatsoever stand | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| In amicable sweet society, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Whatever pleasures are at His right hand, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Ye must before I am divine, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In full propriety be mine. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| This soaring, sacred thirst, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Ambassador of bliss, approached first, | 10 | ˘/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| Making a place in me | 6 | /˘···· |
| That made me apt to prize, and taste, and see. | 10 | ·········· |
| For not the objects but the sense | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of things doth bliss to souls dispense, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And make it, Lord, like thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Sense, feeling, taste, complacency, and sight, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| These are the true and real joys, | 7 | ······· |
| The living, flowing, inward, melting, bright, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| And heavenly pleasures; all the rest are toys: | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| All which are founded in Desire, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| As light in flame and heat in fire. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
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.