Love
O nectar! O delicious stream!O ravishing and only pleasure! WhereShall such another themeInspire my tongue with joys or please mine ear!Abridgment of delights!And queen of sights!O mine of rarities! O Kingdom wide!O more! O cause of all! O glorious Bride!O God! O Bride of God! O King!O soul and crown of everything!
Did not I covet to beholdSome endless monarch, that did always liveIn palaces of gold,Willing all kingdoms, realms, and crowns to giveUnto my soul! Whose loveA spring might proveOf endless glories, honors, friendships, pleasures,Joys, praises, beauties and celestial treasures!Lo, now I see there's such a King,The fountain-head of everything!
Did my ambition ever dreamOf such a Lord, of such a love! Did IExpect so sweet a streamAs this at any time! Could any eyeBelieve it? Why all powerIs used here;Joys down from Heaven on my head do shower,And Jove beyond the fiction doth appearOnce more in golden rain to comeTo Danæ's pleasing fruitful womb.
His Ganimede! His life! His Joy!Or He comes down to me, or takes me upThat I might be His boy,And fill, and taste, and give, and drink the cup.But those (tho' great) are allToo short and small,Too weak and feeble pictures to expressThe true mysterious depths of Blessedness.I am His image, and His friend,His son, bride, glory, temple, end.
Words in this poem
- ravishing a.
- Rapturous; transporting.
- 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,]
- 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.]
- expect v. t.
- To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love 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, Love, in Poetical Works (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #61586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/traherne-poems/love.html, id L13321.
Form and metre
Love is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDDEE, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCCDDEE streamA · whereB · themeA · earB · delightsC · sightsC · wideD · brideD · kingE · everythingE
- 2 ABABCCDDEE beholdA · liveB · goldA · giveB · loveC · proveC · pleasuresD · treasuresD · kingE · everythingE
- 3 ABABCDCD-- dreamA · iB · streamA · eyeB · powerC · hereD · showerC · appearD · come · womb
- 4 ABABCCDDEE joyA · upB · boyA · cupB · allC · smallC · expressD · blessednessD · friendE · endE
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O nectar! O delicious stream! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| O ravishing and only pleasure! Where | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| Shall such another theme | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Inspire my tongue with joys or please mine ear! | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Abridgment of delights! | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| And queen of sights! | 4 | ···· |
| O mine of rarities! O Kingdom wide! | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| O more! O cause of all! O glorious Bride! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O God! O Bride of God! O King! | 8 | ········ |
| O soul and crown of everything! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Did not I covet to behold | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Some endless monarch, that did always live | 10 | ·/˘/···/·· |
| In palaces of gold, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Willing all kingdoms, realms, and crowns to give | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Unto my soul! Whose love | 6 | ······ |
| A spring might prove | 4 | ···· |
| Of endless glories, honors, friendships, pleasures, | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Joys, praises, beauties and celestial treasures! | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Lo, now I see there's such a King, | 8 | ········ |
| The fountain-head of everything! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Did my ambition ever dream | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Of such a Lord, of such a love! Did I | 10 | ·········· |
| Expect so sweet a stream | 6 | ˘/···· |
| As this at any time! Could any eye | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Believe it? Why all power | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| Is used here; | 3 | ··· |
| Joys down from Heaven on my head do shower, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And Jove beyond the fiction doth appear | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Once more in golden rain to come | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To Danæ's pleasing fruitful womb. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| His Ganimede! His life! His Joy! | 8 | ········ |
| Or He comes down to me, or takes me up | 10 | ·········· |
| That I might be His boy, | 6 | ······ |
| And fill, and taste, and give, and drink the cup. | 10 | ·········· |
| But those (tho' great) are all | 6 | ······ |
| Too short and small, | 4 | ···· |
| Too weak and feeble pictures to express | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The true mysterious depths of Blessedness. | 11 | ··˘/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| I am His image, and His friend, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His son, bride, glory, temple, end. | 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.