Complaint
Pale moon! thy mild benignant lightMay glad some other captive's sight;Bright'ning the gloomy objects nigh,Thy beams a lenient thought supply:But, oh, pale moon! what ray of thineCan sooth a misery like mine!Chase the sad image of the past,And woes for ever doom'd to last.
Where are the years with pleasure gay?How bright their course! how short their stay!--Where are the crowns, that round my headA double glory vainly spread?Where are the beauties wont to move,The grace, converting awe to love?Alas, had fate design'd to bless,Its equal hand had giv'n me less!
Why did the regal garb arrayA breast that tender passions sway?A soul of unsuspicious frame,Which leans with faith on friendship's name--Ye vanish'd hopes! ye broken ties!By perfidy, in friendship's guise,This breast was injur'd, lost, betray'd--Where, where shall Mary look for aid?
How could I hope redress to findStern rival! from thy envious mind?How could I e'er thy words believe?O ever practis'd to deceive!Thy wiles abhorr'd shall please aloneCold bosoms, selfish as thy own;While ages hence, indignant hearThe horrors of my fate severe.
Have not thy unrelenting handsTorn nature's most endearing bands?Whate'er I hop'd from woman's name,The ties of blood, the stranger's claim;A sister-queen's despairing breastOn thee securely lean'd for rest;On thee! from whom that breast has bledWith sharper ills than those I fled,
Oh, skill'd in every baser art!Tyrant! to this unguarded heartNo guilt so black as thine belongs,Which loads my length'ning years with wrongs.Strike then at once, insatiate foe!The long, premeditated blow;So shall thy jealous terrors cease,And Mary's harrass'd soul have peace.
Words in this poem
- benignant a.
- Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
- perfidy n.
- The act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow, or of trust reposed; faithlessness; teachery. [L. perfidia, fr. L. perfidus faithless; per (cf. Skr. para away) + fides faith: cf. F. perfidie. See Faith.]
- 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,]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- indignant a.
- Affected with indignation; wrathful; passionate; irate; feeling wrath, as when a person is exasperated by unworthy or unjust treatment, by a mean action, or by a degrading accusation. [L. indignans, -antis, p. pr. of indignari to be indignant, disdain. See Indign.]
- unrelenting a.
- Not relenting; unyielding; rigid; hard; stern; cruel.
- endearing a.
- Making dear or beloved; causing love.
- despairing a.
- Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless.
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Complaint is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems (1786), Volume I., Project Gutenberg ebook #11054; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Maria Williams, Complaint, in Poems (1786) (1786), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #11054, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-helen-poems/complaint.html, id L10040.
Form and metre
Complaint is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCCDD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 AABBCCDD lightA · sightA · nighB · supplyB · thineC · mineC · pastD · lastD
- 2 AABBCCDD gayA · stayA · headB · spreadB · moveC · loveC · blessD · lessD
- 3 AABBCCDD arrayA · swayA · frameB · nameB · tiesC · guiseC · betray'dD · aidD
- 4 AABBCCDD findA · mindA · believeB · deceiveB · aloneC · ownC · hearD · severeD
- 5 AABBCCDD handsA · bandsA · nameB · claimB · breastC · restC · bledD · fledD
- 6 AABBCCDD artA · heartA · belongsB · wrongsB · foeC · blowC · ceaseD · peaceD
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Pale moon! thy mild benignant light | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| May glad some other captive's sight; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Bright'ning the gloomy objects nigh, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thy beams a lenient thought supply: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But, oh, pale moon! what ray of thine | 8 | ········ |
| Can sooth a misery like mine! | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Chase the sad image of the past, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And woes for ever doom'd to last. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where are the years with pleasure gay? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| How bright their course! how short their stay!-- | 8 | ········ |
| Where are the crowns, that round my head | 8 | ········ |
| A double glory vainly spread? | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Where are the beauties wont to move, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The grace, converting awe to love? | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Alas, had fate design'd to bless, | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Its equal hand had giv'n me less! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Why did the regal garb array | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A breast that tender passions sway? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A soul of unsuspicious frame, | 8 | ········ |
| Which leans with faith on friendship's name-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ye vanish'd hopes! ye broken ties! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By perfidy, in friendship's guise, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| This breast was injur'd, lost, betray'd-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Where, where shall Mary look for aid? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How could I hope redress to find | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Stern rival! from thy envious mind? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| How could I e'er thy words believe? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| O ever practis'd to deceive! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Thy wiles abhorr'd shall please alone | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Cold bosoms, selfish as thy own; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| While ages hence, indignant hear | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The horrors of my fate severe. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Have not thy unrelenting hands | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Torn nature's most endearing bands? | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whate'er I hop'd from woman's name, | 9 | ˘˘/···/˘· |
| The ties of blood, the stranger's claim; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A sister-queen's despairing breast | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| On thee securely lean'd for rest; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| On thee! from whom that breast has bled | 8 | ········ |
| With sharper ills than those I fled, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Oh, skill'd in every baser art! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Tyrant! to this unguarded heart | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| No guilt so black as thine belongs, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which loads my length'ning years with wrongs. | 8 | ········ |
| Strike then at once, insatiate foe! | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| The long, premeditated blow; | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘· |
| So shall thy jealous terrors cease, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And Mary's harrass'd soul have peace. | 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.