Thoughts.—Ii
A delicate and tender thoughtThe quintessence is found of all He wrought;It is the fruit of all his works,Which we conceive,Bring forth, and give,Yea and in which the greater value lurks.It is the fine and curious flowerWhich we return and offer every hour;So tender is our ParadiseThat in a triceIt withers strait and fades awayIf we but cease its beauty to display.
Why things so precious should be madeSo prone, so easy, and so apt to fadeIt is not easy to declare;But God would haveHis creatures brave,And that too by their own continual care.He gave them power every hourBoth to erect and to maintain a tower,Which he far more in us doth prizeThan all the skies,That we might offer it to Him,And in our souls be like the Seraphim.
That temple David did intendWas but a thought, and yet it did transcendKing Solomon's. A thought we knowIs that for whichGod doth enrichWith joys even Heaven above and Earth below.For that all objects might be seenHe made the orient azure and the green:That we might in his works delightAnd that the sightOf those His treasures might enflameThe soul with love to Him, He made the same.
This sight which is the glorious EndOf all His works and which doth comprehendEternity and time and space,Is far more dear,And far more nearTo Him, than all His glorious dwelling-place.It is a spiritual world within,A living world and nearer far of kinTo God than that which first he made.While that doth fadeThis therefore ever shall endureWithin the soul as more divine and pure.
Ye hidden nectars, which my God doth drink,Ye heavenly streams, ye beams divine,On which the angels think,How quick, how strongly do ye shine!Ye images of joy that in me dwell,Ye sweet mysterious shadesThat do all substances excel,Whose glory never fades;Ye skies, ye seas, ye stars, or things more fair,O ever, ever unto me repair!
Ye pleasant thoughts! O how that sun divineAppears to-day which I did seeSo sweetly then to shineEven in my very infancy!Ye rich ideas which within me liveYe living pictures here,Ye spirits that do bring and giveAll joys; when ye appearEven Heaven itself and God, and all in youCome down on earth and please my blessed view.
I never glorious great and rich am found,Am never ravished with joy,Till ye my soul surround:Till ye my blessedness displayNo soul but stone, no man but clay am I,No flesh, but dust, till yeDelight, invade and move my eye,And do replenish me;My sweet informers and my living treasures,My great companions and my only pleasures!
O what incredible delights, what fires,What appetites, what joys do yeOccasion, what desires,What heavenly praises! While we seeWhat every Seraphim above admires!Your Jubilee and trade,Ye are so strangely and divinely madeShall never, never fade:Ye ravish all my soul: Of you I twiceWill speak, for in the dark y'are Paradise.
Words in this poem
- quintessence n.
- The fifth or last and highest essence or power in a natural body. [F., fr. L. quinta essentia fifth essence. See Quint, and Essence.]
- 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.]
- trice v. t.
- To pull; to haul; to drag; to pull away. [OE. trisen; of Scand. or Low German origin; cf. Sw. trissa a sheave, pulley, triss a spritsail brace, Dan. tridse a pulley, tridse to haul by means of a pulley,]
- withers n.
- The ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. See Illust. of Horse. [Properly, the parts which resist the pull or strain in drawing a load; fr. OE. wither resistance, AS. withre, fr. wither against; akin to G. widerrist withers. ]
- seraphim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Seraph. Cf. Cherubim.
- intend v. t.
- To stretch' to extend; to distend. [OE. entenden to be attentive, F. entendre, fr. L. intendre, intentum, and intensum, to intend, attend, stretch out, extend; pref. in- in + tendere to stretch, s]
- transcend v. i.
- To climb; to mount.
- 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.]
- 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,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- blessedness n.
- The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God.
- replenish v. i.
- To recover former fullness.
- incredible a.
- Not credible; surpassing belief; too extraordinary and improbable to admit of belief; unlikely; marvelous; fabulous. [L. incredibilis: cf. OF. incredible. See In- not, and Credible.]
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thoughts.—Ii 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, Thoughts.—Ii, in Poetical Works (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #61586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/traherne-poems/thoughts-ii.html, id L13323.
Form and metre
Thoughts.—Ii is 88 lines in 8 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABCCBDDEEFF, in 2 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% 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 AAB--BCCDDEE thoughtA · wroughtA · worksB · conceive · give · lurksB · flowerC · hourC · paradiseD · triceD · awayE · displayE
- 2 AABCCBDDEE-- madeA · fadeA · declareB · haveC · braveC · careB · hourD · towerD · prizeE · skiesE · him · seraphim
- 3 AABCCBDDEEFF intendA · transcendA · knowB · whichC · enrichC · belowB · seenD · greenD · delightE · sightE · enflameF · sameF
- 4 AABCCBDDEEFF endA · comprehendA · spaceB · dearC · nearC · placeB · withinD · kinD · madeE · fadeE · endureF · pureF
- 5 ABABCDCDEE drinkA · divineB · thinkA · shineB · dwellC · shadesD · excelC · fadesD · fairE · repairE
- 6 A-A-BCBCDD divineA · see · shineA · infancy · liveB · hereC · giveB · appearC · youD · viewD
- 7 A-A-BCBCDD foundA · joy · surroundA · display · iB · yeC · eyeB · meC · treasuresD · pleasuresD
- 8 ABAB-CCCDD firesA · yeB · desiresA · seeB · admires · tradeC · madeC · fadeC · twiceD · paradiseD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A delicate and tender thought | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| The quintessence is found of all He wrought; | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| It is the fruit of all his works, | 8 | ········ |
| Which we conceive, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Bring forth, and give, | 4 | ···· |
| Yea and in which the greater value lurks. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| It is the fine and curious flower | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| Which we return and offer every hour; | 11 | ··˘/·/˘/˘/˘ |
| So tender is our Paradise | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| That in a trice | 4 | ···· |
| It withers strait and fades away | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| If we but cease its beauty to display. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Why things so precious should be made | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So prone, so easy, and so apt to fade | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| It is not easy to declare; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But God would have | 4 | ···· |
| His creatures brave, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And that too by their own continual care. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| He gave them power every hour | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Both to erect and to maintain a tower, | 11 | ··˘/··˘/·/˘ |
| Which he far more in us doth prize | 8 | ········ |
| Than all the skies, | 4 | ···· |
| That we might offer it to Him, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in our souls be like the Seraphim. | 11 | ··/˘····/˘˘ |
| That temple David did intend | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Was but a thought, and yet it did transcend | 10 | ········˘/ |
| King Solomon's. A thought we know | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Is that for which | 4 | ···· |
| God doth enrich | 4 | ··˘/ |
| With joys even Heaven above and Earth below. | 10 | ··//······ |
| For that all objects might be seen | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He made the orient azure and the green: | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| That we might in his works delight | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And that the sight | 4 | ···· |
| Of those His treasures might enflame | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The soul with love to Him, He made the same. | 10 | ·········· |
| This sight which is the glorious End | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Of all His works and which doth comprehend | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Eternity and time and space, | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| Is far more dear, | 4 | ···· |
| And far more near | 4 | ···· |
| To Him, than all His glorious dwelling-place. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| It is a spiritual world within, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘··· |
| A living world and nearer far of kin | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| To God than that which first he made. | 8 | ········ |
| While that doth fade | 4 | ···· |
| This therefore ever shall endure | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Within the soul as more divine and pure. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Ye hidden nectars, which my God doth drink, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Ye heavenly streams, ye beams divine, | 9 | ·/˘˘···˘/ |
| On which the angels think, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How quick, how strongly do ye shine! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ye images of joy that in me dwell, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Ye sweet mysterious shades | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| That do all substances excel, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Whose glory never fades; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Ye skies, ye seas, ye stars, or things more fair, | 10 | ·········· |
| O ever, ever unto me repair! | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Ye pleasant thoughts! O how that sun divine | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Appears to-day which I did see | 8 | ˘/······ |
| So sweetly then to shine | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Even in my very infancy! | 9 | /˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Ye rich ideas which within me live | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Ye living pictures here, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Ye spirits that do bring and give | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All joys; when ye appear | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Even Heaven itself and God, and all in you | 10 | //˘/······ |
| Come down on earth and please my blessed view. | 10 | ········˘· |
| I never glorious great and rich am found, | 10 | ·//˘˘····· |
| Am never ravished with joy, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Till ye my soul surround: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Till ye my blessedness display | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| No soul but stone, no man but clay am I, | 10 | ·········· |
| No flesh, but dust, till ye | 6 | ······ |
| Delight, invade and move my eye, | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| And do replenish me; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| My sweet informers and my living treasures, | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| My great companions and my only pleasures! | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| O what incredible delights, what fires, | 11 | ··˘/˘˘˘/·/˘ |
| What appetites, what joys do ye | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Occasion, what desires, | 7 | ˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| What heavenly praises! While we see | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| What every Seraphim above admires! | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| Your Jubilee and trade, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ye are so strangely and divinely made | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Shall never, never fade: | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Ye ravish all my soul: Of you I twice | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Will speak, for in the dark y'are Paradise. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.