Isaura
Dost thou not tire, Isaura, of this play?"What play?" Why, this old play of winning hearts!Nay, now, lift not thine eyes in that feigned way:'Tis all in vain--I know thee and thine arts.
Let us be frank, Isaura. I have madeA study of thee; and while I admireThe practised skill with which thy plans are laid,I can but wonder if thou dost not tire.
Why, I tire even of Hamlet and Macbeth!When overlong the season runs, I findThose master-scenes of passion, blood, and death,After a time do pall upon my mind.
Dost thou not tire of lifting up thine eyesTo read the story thou hast read so oft--Of ardent glances and deep quivering sighs,Of haughty faces suddenly grown soft?
Is it not stale, oh, very stale, to thee,The scene that follows? Hearts are much the same;The loves of men but vary in degree--They find no new expressions for the flame.
Thou must know all they utter ere they speak,As I know Hamlet's part, whoever plays.Oh, does it not seem sometimes poor and weak?I think thou must grow weary of their ways.
I pity thee, Isaura! I would beThe humblest maiden with her dream untoldRather than live a Queen of Hearts, like thee,And find life's rarest treasures stale and old.
I pity thee; for now, let come what may,Fame, glory, riches, yet life will lack all.Wherewith can salt be salted? And what wayCan life be seasoned after love doth pall?
Words in this poem
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Isaura is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Isaura, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/isaura.html, id L22161.
Form and metre
Isaura is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABAB playA · heartsB · wayA · artsB
- 2 A-A- madeA · admire · laidA · tire
- 3 ABAB macbethA · findB · deathA · mindB
- 4 ABAB eyesA · oftB · sighsA · softB
- 5 ABAB theeA · sameB · degreeA · flameB
- 6 ABAB speakA · playsB · weakA · waysB
- 7 ABAB beA · untoldB · theeA · oldB
- 8 ABAB mayA · allB · wayA · pallB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dost thou not tire, Isaura, of this play? | 10 | ···/······ |
| "What play?" Why, this old play of winning hearts! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Nay, now, lift not thine eyes in that feigned way: | 10 | ·········· |
| 'Tis all in vain--I know thee and thine arts. | 10 | ·········· |
| Let us be frank, Isaura. I have made | 10 | ·········· |
| A study of thee; and while I admire | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The practised skill with which thy plans are laid, | 10 | ·········· |
| I can but wonder if thou dost not tire. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Why, I tire even of Hamlet and Macbeth! | 10 | ··//·/˘·˘/ |
| When overlong the season runs, I find | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Those master-scenes of passion, blood, and death, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| After a time do pall upon my mind. | 10 | ·········· |
| Dost thou not tire of lifting up thine eyes | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| To read the story thou hast read so oft-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of ardent glances and deep quivering sighs, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Of haughty faces suddenly grown soft? | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Is it not stale, oh, very stale, to thee, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The scene that follows? Hearts are much the same; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The loves of men but vary in degree-- | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| They find no new expressions for the flame. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Thou must know all they utter ere they speak, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As I know Hamlet's part, whoever plays. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Oh, does it not seem sometimes poor and weak? | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| I think thou must grow weary of their ways. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I pity thee, Isaura! I would be | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The humblest maiden with her dream untold | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Rather than live a Queen of Hearts, like thee, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And find life's rarest treasures stale and old. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I pity thee; for now, let come what may, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Fame, glory, riches, yet life will lack all. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Wherewith can salt be salted? And what way | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Can life be seasoned after love doth pall? | 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.