To Amoret
Amoret! the Milky WayFramed of many nameless stars!The smooth stream where none can sayHe this drop to that prefers!
Amoret! my lovely foe!Tell me where thy strength does lie?Where the pow'r that charms us so?In thy soul, or in thy eye?
By that snowy neck alone,Or thy grace in motion seen,No such wonders could he done;Yet thy waist is straight and cleanAs Cupid's shaft, or Hermes' rod,And pow'rful, too, as either god.
Words in this poem
- amoret n.
- An amorous girl or woman; a wanton. J. Warton. [OF. amorette, F. amourette, dim. of amour.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Amoret is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham, Project Gutenberg ebook #12322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edmund Waller, To Amoret, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-amoret-2.html, id L09087.
Form and metre
To Amoret is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 21% 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 A-A- wayA · stars · sayA · prefers
- 2 ABAB foeA · lieB · soA · eyeB
- 3 -A-ABB alone · seenA · done · cleanA · rodB · godB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amoret! the Milky Way | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Framed of many nameless stars! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| The smooth stream where none can say | 7 | ······· |
| He this drop to that prefers! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Amoret! my lovely foe! | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Tell me where thy strength does lie? | 7 | ······· |
| Where the pow'r that charms us so? | 7 | ······· |
| In thy soul, or in thy eye? | 7 | ······· |
| By that snowy neck alone, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Or thy grace in motion seen, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| No such wonders could he done; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Yet thy waist is straight and clean | 7 | ······· |
| As Cupid's shaft, or Hermes' rod, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And pow'rful, too, as either god. | 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.