To All the Princes of Europe
$E$ urope, the earth's sweet Paradise,$L$ et all thy kings that would be wise,$I$ n politique deuotion;$S$ ayle hither to obserue her eyes,$A$ nd marke her heaunly motion.
$B$ raue Princes of this ciuill age,$E$ nter into this pilgrimage;$T$ his saint's tongue is an oracle,$H$ er eye hath made a Prince a page,$A$ nd works each day a miracle.
$R$ aise but your lookes to her, and see$E$ uen the true beames of maiestie,$G$ reat Princes, marke her duly;$I$ f all the world you doe suruey,$N$ o forehead spreades so bright a ray,$A$ nd notes a Prince so truly.
Words in this poem
- ayle n.
- A grandfather. Writ of Ayle, an ancient English writ which lay against a stranger who had dispossessed the demandant of land of which his grandfather died seized. [OE. ayel, aiel, OF. aiol, aiel, F. aïeul, a dim. of L. avus grandfather.]
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
- oracle v. i.
- To utter oracles.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To All the Princes of Europe 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, To All the Princes of Europe, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/to-all-the-princes-of-europe.html, id L08802.
Form and metre
To All the Princes of Europe is 16 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 paradise · wiseA · deuotionB · eyesA · motionB
- 2 AA-A- ageA · pilgrimageA · oracle · pageA · miracle
- 3 --A--A see · maiestie · dulyA · suruey · ray · trulyA
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 trochaic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| $E$ urope, the earth's sweet Paradise, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| $L$ et all thy kings that would be wise, | 9 | ········· |
| $I$ n politique deuotion; | 7 | ······· |
| $S$ ayle hither to obserue her eyes, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| $A$ nd marke her heaunly motion. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| $B$ raue Princes of this ciuill age, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| $E$ nter into this pilgrimage; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| $T$ his saint's tongue is an oracle, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| $H$ er eye hath made a Prince a page, | 9 | ········· |
| $A$ nd works each day a miracle. | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| $R$ aise but your lookes to her, and see | 9 | ········· |
| $E$ uen the true beames of maiestie, | 9 | ········· |
| $G$ reat Princes, marke her duly; | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| $I$ f all the world you doe suruey, | 9 | ········· |
| $N$ o forehead spreades so bright a ray, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| $A$ nd notes a Prince so truly. | 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.