Music's Duel Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCBBDDEFBBBBGBG HIDDJKLBIIMMNNOOBBBB BBBBBBDDBBPPQQRRBBBB SSTTBBBBUDCVWWXXYYZZ IIA2A2B2C2TTBBBBUUBB EED2D2BBBBBBEZBBDUE2 E2BBCCXF2G2H2I2I2BUJ 2K2L2L2D2D2UUM2M2G2G 2OOZZG2G2D2D2DDG2G2U WGDN2N2ZZD2D2G2G2BBG 2G2ZZG2G2O2P2| Now westward Sol had spent the richest beams | A |
| Of noon's high glory when hard by the streams | A |
| Of Tiber on the scene of a green plat | B |
| Under protection of an oak there sat | B |
| A sweet lute's master in whose gentle airs | C |
| He lost the day's heat and his own hot cares | C |
| Close in the covert of the leaves there stood | B |
| A nightingale come from the neighbouring wood | B |
| The sweet inhabitant of each glad tree | D |
| Their muse their Syren harmless Syren she | D |
| There stood she list'ning and did entertain | E |
| The music's soft report and mould the same | F |
| In her own murmurs that what ever mood | B |
| His curious fingers lent her voice made good | B |
| The man preceived his rival and her art | B |
| Disposed to give the light foot lady sport | B |
| Awakes his lute and 'gainst the fight to come | G |
| Informs it in a sweet | B |
| pr ludium | G |
| - | |
| Of closer strains and ere the war begin | H |
| He slightly skirmishes on every string | I |
| Charged with a flying touch and staightway she | D |
| Carves out her dainty voice as readily | D |
| Into a thousand sweet distinguish'd tones | J |
| And reckons up in soft divisions | K |
| Quick volumes of wild notes to let him know | L |
| By that shrill taste she could do something too | B |
| His nimble hand's instinct then taught each string | I |
| A cap'ring cheerfulness and made them sing | I |
| To their own dance now negligently rash | M |
| He throws his arm and with a long drawn dash | M |
| Blends all together then distinctly trips | N |
| From this to that then quick returning skips | N |
| And snatches this again and pauses there | O |
| She measures every measure everywhere | O |
| Meets art with art sometimes as if in doubt | B |
| Not perfect yet and fearing to be out | B |
| Trails her plain ditty in one long spun note | B |
| Through the sleek passage of her open throat | B |
| A clear unwrinkled song then doth she point it | B |
| With tender accents and severely joint it | B |
| By short diminutives that being rear'd | B |
| In controverting warbles evenly shared | B |
| With her sweet self she wrangles he amazed | B |
| That from so small a channel should be raised | B |
| The torrent of a voice whose melody | D |
| Could melt into such sweet variety | D |
| Strains higher yet that tickled with rare art | B |
| The tattling strings each breathing in his part | B |
| Most kindly do fall out the grumbling base | P |
| In surly groans disdains the treble's grace | P |
| The high perch'd treble chirps at this and chides | Q |
| Until his finger moderator hides | Q |
| And closes the sweet quarrel rousing all | R |
| Hoarse shrill at once as when the trumpets call | R |
| Hot Mars to th' harvest of death's field and woo | B |
| Men's hearts into their hands this lesson too | B |
| She gives him back her supple breast thrills out | B |
| Sharp airs and staggers in a warbling doubt | B |
| Of dallying sweetness hovers o'er her skill | S |
| And folds in waved notes with a trembling bill | S |
| The pliant series of her slippery song | T |
| Then starts she suddenly into a throng | T |
| Of short thick sobs whose thundring volleys float | B |
| And roll themselves over her lubric throat | B |
| In panting murmurs 'still'd out of her breast | B |
| That ever bubbling spring the sugar'd nest | B |
| Of her delicious soul that there does lie | U |
| Bathing in streams of liquid melody | D |
| Music's best seed plot when in ripen'd airs | C |
| A golden headed harvest fairly rears | V |
| His honey dropping tops plough'd by her breath | W |
| Which there reciprocally laboureth | W |
| In that sweet soil it seems a holy quire | X |
| Founded to th' name of great Apollo's lyre | X |
| Whose silver roof rings with the sprightly notes | Y |
| Of sweet lipp'd angel imps that swill their throats | Y |
| In cream of morning Helicon and then | Z |
| Prefer soft anthems to the ears of men | Z |
| To woo them from their beds still murmuring | I |
| That men can sleep while they their matins sing | I |
| Most divine service whose so early lay | A2 |
| Prevents the eyelids of the blushing day | A2 |
| There might you hear her kindle her soft voice | B2 |
| In the close murmur of a sparkling noise | C2 |
| And lay the ground work of her hopeful song | T |
| Still keeping in the forward stream so long | T |
| Till a sweet whirlwind striving to get out | B |
| Heaves her soft bosom wanders round about | B |
| And makes a pretty earthquake in her breast | B |
| Till the fledged notes at length forsake their nest | B |
| Fluttering in wanton shoals and to the sky | U |
| Wing'd with their own wild echos pratt'ling fly | U |
| She opes the floodgate and lets loose a tide | B |
| Of streaming sweetness which in state doth ride | B |
| On the waved back of every swelling strain | E |
| Rising and falling in a pompous train | E |
| And while she thus discharges a shrill peal | D2 |
| Of flashing airs she qualifies their zeal | D2 |
| With the cool epode of a graver note | B |
| Thus high thus low as if her silver throat | B |
| Would reach the brazen voice of war's hoarse bird | B |
| Her little soul is ravish'd and so pour'd | B |
| Into loose ecstasies that she is placed | B |
| Above herself music's enthusiast | B |
| Shame now and anger mixed a double stain | E |
| In the musician's face yet once again | Z |
| Mistress I come Now reach a strain my lute | B |
| Above her mock or be for ever mute | B |
| Or tune a song of victory to me | D |
| Or to thyself sing thine own obsequy | U |
| So said his hands sprightly as fire he flings | E2 |
| And with a quivering coyness tastes the strings | E2 |
| The sweet lipp'd sisters musically frighted | B |
| Singing their fears are fearfully delighted | B |
| Trembling as when Apollo's golden hairs | C |
| Are fann'd and frizzled in the wanton airs | C |
| Of his own breath which married to his lyre | X |
| Doth tune the spheres and make heaven's self look higher | F2 |
| From this to that from that to this he flies | G2 |
| Feels music's pulse in all her arteries | H2 |
| Caught in a net which there Apollo spreads | I2 |
| His fingers struggle with the vocal threads | I2 |
| Following those little rills he sinks into | B |
| A sea of Helicon his hand does go | U |
| Those parts of sweetness which with nectar drop | J2 |
| Softer than that which pants in Hebe's cup | K2 |
| The humourous strings expound his learn d touch | L2 |
| By various glosses now they seem to grutch | L2 |
| And murmur in a buzzing din then gingle | D2 |
| In shrill tongued accents striving to be single | D2 |
| Every smooth turn every delicious stroke | U |
| Gives life to some new grace thus doth he invoke | U |
| Sweetness by all her names thus bravely thus | M2 |
| Fraught with a fury so harmonious | M2 |
| The lute's light Genius now does proudly rise | G2 |
| Heaved on the surges of swoll'n rhapsodies | G2 |
| Whose flourish meteor like doth curl the air | O |
| With flash of high born fancies here and there | O |
| Dancing in lofty measures and anon | Z |
| Creeps on the soft touch of a tender tone | Z |
| Whose trembling murmurs melting in wild airs | G2 |
| Runs to and fro complaining his sweet cares | G2 |
| Because those precious mysteries that dwell | D2 |
| In music's ravish'd soul he dare not tell | D2 |
| But whisper to the world thus do they vary | D |
| Each string his note as if they meant to carry | D |
| Their master's blest soul snatch'd out at his ears | G2 |
| By a strong ecstacy through all the spheres | G2 |
| Of music's heaven and seat it there on high | U |
| In th' | W |
| empyr um | G |
| of pure harmony | D |
| At length after so long so loud a strife | N2 |
| Of all the strings still breathing the best life | N2 |
| Of blest variety attending on | Z |
| His fingers' fairest revolution | Z |
| In many a sweet rise many as sweet a fall | D2 |
| A full mouth'd diapason swallows all | D2 |
| This done he lists what she would say to this | G2 |
| And she although her breath's late exercise | G2 |
| Had dealt too roughly with her tender throat | B |
| Yet summons all her sweet powers for a note | B |
| Alas in vain for while sweet soul she tries | G2 |
| To measure all those wild diversities | G2 |
| Of chatt'ring strings by the small size of one | Z |
| Poor simple voice raised in a natural tone | Z |
| She fails and failing grieves and grieving dies | G2 |
| She dies and leaves her life the victor's prize | G2 |
| Falling upon his lute O fit to have | O2 |
| That lived so sweetly dead so sweet a grave | P2 |
Richard Crashaw
(1)
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About Music's Duel
Music's Duel is a poem by Richard Crashaw. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.