Sonnet: On the Death of Prince Henry
Methought his royal person did foretellA kingly stateliness, from all pride clear;His look majestic seemed to compelAll men to love him, rather than to fear.And yet though he were every good man's joy,And the alonely comfort of his own,His very name with terror did annoyHis foreign foes so far as he was known.Hell drooped for fear; the Turkey moon looked pale;Spain trembled; and the most tempestuous sea,(Where Behemoth, the Babylonish whale,Keeps all his bloody and imperious plea)Was swoln with rage, for fear he'd stop the tideOf her o'er-daring and insulting pride.
Did I not know a great man's power and mightIn spite of innocence can smother right,Colour his villainies to get esteem,And make the honest man the villain seem?I know it, and the world doth know 'tis true,Yet I protest if such a man I knew,That might my country prejudice or theeWere he the greatest or the proudest he,That breathes this day; if so it might be foundThat any good to either might redound,I unappalled, dare in such a caseRip up his foulest crimes before his face,Though for my labour I were sure to dropInto the mouth of ruin without hope.
Words in this poem
- alonely adv.
- Only; merely; singly.
- behemoth n.
- An animal, probably the hippopotamus, described in Job xl. 15- 24. [Heb. behem, fr. Egyptian P-ehe-maut hippopotamus.]
- babylonish n.
- Of or pertaining to, or made in, Babylon or Babylonia.
- imperious a.
- Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
- swoln
- Contraction of Swollen, p. p.
- redound v. i.
- To roll back, as a wave or flood; to be sent or driven back; to flow back, as a consequence or effect; to conduce; to contribute; to result. [F. redonder, L. redundare; pref. red-, re-, re- + undare to rise in waves or surges, fr. unda a wave. See Undulate, and cf. Redundant.]
- unappalled a.
- Not appalled; not frightened; dauntless; undaunted.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet: On the Death of Prince Henry is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pastoral Poems by Nicholas Breton, Selected Poetry by George Wither, and Pastoral Poetry by William Browne (of Tavistock), Project Gutenberg ebook #22001; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Nicholas Breton, Sonnet: On the Death of Prince Henry, in Pastoral Poems and Selected Poetry (1597–1604), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22001, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/breton-poems/sonnet-on-the-death-of-prince-henry.html, id L08849.
Form and metre
Sonnet: On the Death of Prince Henry is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG foretellA · clearB · compelA · fearB · joyC · ownD · annoyC · knownD · paleE · seaF · whaleE · pleaF · tideG · prideG
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF-- mightA · rightA · esteemB · seemB · trueC · knewC · theeD · heD · foundE · redoundE · caseF · faceF · drop · hope
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Methought his royal person did foretell | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| A kingly stateliness, from all pride clear; | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| His look majestic seemed to compel | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘·˘/ |
| All men to love him, rather than to fear. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And yet though he were every good man's joy, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And the alonely comfort of his own, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| His very name with terror did annoy | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| His foreign foes so far as he was known. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Hell drooped for fear; the Turkey moon looked pale; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Spain trembled; and the most tempestuous sea, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| (Where Behemoth, the Babylonish whale, | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| Keeps all his bloody and imperious plea) | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Was swoln with rage, for fear he'd stop the tide | 10 | ·········· |
| Of her o'er-daring and insulting pride. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Did I not know a great man's power and might | 10 | ·······/·· |
| In spite of innocence can smother right, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Colour his villainies to get esteem, | 9 | /˘·····˘/ |
| And make the honest man the villain seem? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I know it, and the world doth know 'tis true, | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet I protest if such a man I knew, | 10 | ··/······· |
| That might my country prejudice or thee | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Were he the greatest or the proudest he, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That breathes this day; if so it might be found | 10 | ·········· |
| That any good to either might redound, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| I unappalled, dare in such a case | 10 | ····˘····· |
| Rip up his foulest crimes before his face, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Though for my labour I were sure to drop | 10 | ···/······ |
| Into the mouth of ruin without hope. | 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.