Of Master John Dauies Booke of Dancing. to Himselfe
While you the Planets all doe set to dancing,Beware such hap, as to the Fryer was chancing:Who preaching in a Pulpit old and rotten,Among some notes, most fit to be forgotten:Vnto his Auditory thus he vaunts,To make all Saints after his pype to dance:It speaking, which as he himselfe aduances,To act his speech with gestures, lo, it chances,Downe fals the Pulpit, sore the man is brusèd,Neuer was Fryer and Pulpit more abusèd.Then beare with me, though yet to you a stranger,To warne you of the like, nay greater danger.For though none feare the falling of those sparkes,(And when they fall, t'will be good catching Larkes)Yet this may fall, that while you dance and skip,With female Planets, sore your foote may trip,That in your lofty Caprioll and turneTheir motion may make your dimension burne."
"If Plato lived and saw those heaven-breathed LinesWhere thou the Essence of the Soule confines;Or merry Martiale read thy Epigrammes,Where sportingly, these looser times thou blames:Though both excel, yet (in their severall wayes)They both ore-come, would yeeld to thee the Prise."
To the Right Honourable, Sir Francis Bacone, Knight, Lord HighChancelor of England.
Thy Vertuous Name and Office, joyne with Fate,To make thee the bright Beacon of the State.
I just observe, as my book passes through the Press, that ANTHONY
His name-sake, John Davies of Hereford similarly saluted him. His'Lines' with others, will appear more fitly in the fuller 'Life.'Meanwhile, as carrying within it, perhaps the most memorablecircumstance appertaining to these 'Epigrams,' I must ask attentionhere, to one of Wordsworth's finest minor poems--his
Words in this poem
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- sportingly adv.
- In sport; sportively.
- severall adv.
- By itself; severally.
- vertuous a.
- Virtuous; powerful.
- hereford n.
- One of a breed of cattle originating in Herefordshire, England.
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- memorable a.
- Worthy to be remembered; very important or remarkable. [L. memorabilis, fr. memorare to bring to remembrance, fr. memor mindful, remembering. See Memory, and cf. Memorabilia.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Of Master John Dauies Booke of Dancing. to Himselfe is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Volume 1 of 2., Project Gutenberg ebook #44977; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Davies, Of Master John Dauies Booke of Dancing. to Himselfe, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/of-master-john-dauies-booke-of-dancing-to-himselfe.html, id L08727.
Form and metre
Of Master John Dauies Booke of Dancing. to Himselfe is 34 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.2 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 AABB----CCDD--EEFF dancingA · chancingA · rottenB · forgottenB · vaunts · dance · aduances · chances · brusèdC · abusèdC · strangerD · dangerD · sparkes · larkes · skipE · tripE · turneF · burneF
- 2 AA---- linesA · confinesA · epigrammes · blames · wayes · prise
- 4 AA fateA · stateA
- 6 A---A hisA · life · memorable · attention · hisA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| While you the Planets all doe set to dancing, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Beware such hap, as to the Fryer was chancing: | 11 | ˘/·····/·/˘ |
| Who preaching in a Pulpit old and rotten, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Among some notes, most fit to be forgotten: | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Vnto his Auditory thus he vaunts, | 10 | ···/˘·˘··· |
| To make all Saints after his pype to dance: | 10 | ·········· |
| It speaking, which as he himselfe aduances, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| To act his speech with gestures, lo, it chances, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Downe fals the Pulpit, sore the man is brusèd, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Neuer was Fryer and Pulpit more abusèd. | 10 | /˘·/·/˘··· |
| Then beare with me, though yet to you a stranger, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| To warne you of the like, nay greater danger. | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| For though none feare the falling of those sparkes, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| (And when they fall, t'will be good catching Larkes) | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet this may fall, that while you dance and skip, | 10 | ·········· |
| With female Planets, sore your foote may trip, | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| That in your lofty Caprioll and turne | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Their motion may make your dimension burne." | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| "If Plato lived and saw those heaven-breathed Lines | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Where thou the Essence of the Soule confines; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Or merry Martiale read thy Epigrammes, | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| Where sportingly, these looser times thou blames: | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Though both excel, yet (in their severall wayes) | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| They both ore-come, would yeeld to thee the Prise." | 10 | ·········· |
| To the Right Honourable, Sir Francis Bacone, Knight, Lord High | 15 | ········/˘····· |
| Chancelor of England. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Thy Vertuous Name and Office, joyne with Fate, | 11 | ·/˘˘··/˘··· |
| To make thee the bright Beacon of the State. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I just observe, as my book passes through the Press, that ANTHONY | 15 | ··˘/···/˘····/˘ |
| His name-sake, John Davies of Hereford similarly saluted him. His | 16 | ····/˘·/˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| 'Lines' with others, will appear more fitly in the fuller 'Life.' | 15 | ··/˘·˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Meanwhile, as carrying within it, perhaps the most memorable | 14 | /··/˘···˘/··/˘ |
| circumstance appertaining to these 'Epigrams,' I must ask attention | 18 | /˘·······/˘····˘/˘ |
| here, to one of Wordsworth's finest minor poems--his | 12 | ····/˘/˘//˘· |
Notes from the edition 1
A. B. Grosart's notes to the Complete Poems of Sir John Davies (Project Gutenberg #44977).
- Stanza 2, line 6 Ashmore (J). Certain Selected Odes of Horace Englished, with Poems of divers Subiects translated. Whereunto are added, both in Latin and English, sundry new Epigrammes, Anagrammes, Epitaphes. 1621 sm. 4^{o}. As this Volume is seldom to be met with, I take the opportunity of adding here the Anagram to Bacon, which does not appear to have been known to his Editors or Biographers. To the Right Honourable, Sir Francis Bacone, Knight, Lord High Chancelor of England. Anagr { Bacone { Beacon Thy Vertuous Name and Office, joyne with Fate, To make thee the bright Beacon of the State. I just observe, as my book passes through the Press, that ANTHONY A-WOOD quotes (probably) above, without naming the author.
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