Ode 4: To My Worthy Frend, Master John Sauage of the Inner Temple
Vppon this sinfull earthIf man can happy be,And higher then his birth,(Frend) take him thus from me.
Whome promise not deceiuesThat he the breach should rue,Nor constant reason leauesOpinion to pursue.
To rayse his mean estateThat sooths no wanton's sinne,Doth that preferment hateThat virtue doth not winne.
Nor brauery doth admire,Nor doth more loue professeTo that he doth desire,Then that he doth possesse.
Loose humor nor to please,That neither spares nor spends,But by discretion weyesWhat is to needfull ends.
To him deseruing notNot yeelding, nor doth houldWhat is not his, doing whatHe ought not what he could.
Whome the base tyrants willSoe much could neuer aweAs him for good or illFrom honesty to drawe.
Whose constancy doth rise'Boue vndeserued spightWhose valewr's to despiseThat most doth him delight.
That earely leaue doth takeOf th' world though to his payneFor virtues onely sakeAnd not till need constrayne.
Noe man can be so freeThough in imperiall seateNor Eminent as heThat deemeth nothing greate.
Words in this poem
- sinfull a.
- Tainted with, or full of, sin; wicked; iniquitous; criminal; unholy; as, sinful men; sinful thoughts. Piers Plowman. [AAS. synfull.]
- sinne adv.
- Old form of Since. [Obs. or Prov.Eng. & Scot.]
- winne v. t.
- To gain by superiority in competition or contest; to obtain by victory over competitors or rivals; as, to win the prize in a gate; to win money; to win a battle, or to win a country. [OE. winnen, AS. winnan to strive, labor, fight, endure; akin to OFries. winna, OS. winnan, D. winnen to win, gain, G. gewinnen, OHG. winnan to strive, struggle,]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- discretion n.
- Disjunction; separation. Mede. [F. discrétion, L. discretio separation, difference, discernment, fr. discernere, discretum. See Discreet, Discern.]
- needfull a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- spight n.
- A woodpecker. See Speight.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- imperiall a.
- Of or pertaining to an empire, or to an emperor; as, an imperial government; imperial authority or edict. [OE. emperial, OF. emperial, F. impérial, fr. L. imperialis, fr. imperium command, sovereignty, empire. See Empire.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode 4: To My Worthy Frend, Master John Sauage of the Inner Temple is in the public domain. This text is taken from Minor Poems of Michael Drayton, Project Gutenberg ebook #17873; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Michael Drayton, Ode 4: To My Worthy Frend, Master John Sauage of the Inner Temple, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/ode-4-to-my-worthy-frend-master-john-sauage-of-the-inner-temple.html, id L20639.
Form and metre
Ode 4: To My Worthy Frend, Master John Sauage of the Inner Temple is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 earthA · beB · birthA · meB
- 2 ABAB deceiuesA · rueB · leauesA · pursueB
- 3 ABAB estateA · sinneB · hateA · winneB
- 4 -A-A admire · professeA · desire · possesseA
- 5 -A-A please · spendsA · weyes · endsA
- 6 -A-A not · houldA · what · couldA
- 7 ABAB willA · aweB · illA · draweB
- 8 ABAB riseA · spightB · despiseA · delightB
- 9 ABAB takeA · payneB · sakeA · constrayneB
- 10 ABAB freeA · seateB · heA · greateB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Vppon this sinfull earth | 5 | ··/˘· |
| If man can happy be, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And higher then his birth, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (Frend) take him thus from me. | 6 | ······ |
| Whome promise not deceiues | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| That he the breach should rue, | 6 | ······ |
| Nor constant reason leaues | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Opinion to pursue. | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| To rayse his mean estate | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That sooths no wanton's sinne, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Doth that preferment hate | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| That virtue doth not winne. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nor brauery doth admire, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Nor doth more loue professe | 6 | ······ |
| To that he doth desire, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Then that he doth possesse. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Loose humor nor to please, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That neither spares nor spends, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But by discretion weyes | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| What is to needfull ends. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To him deseruing not | 6 | ······ |
| Not yeelding, nor doth hould | 6 | ······ |
| What is not his, doing what | 6 | ····/· |
| He ought not what he could. | 6 | ······ |
| Whome the base tyrants will | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Soe much could neuer awe | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As him for good or ill | 6 | ······ |
| From honesty to drawe. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Whose constancy doth rise | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| 'Boue vndeserued spight | 5 | ···˘· |
| Whose valewr's to despise | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That most doth him delight. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That earely leaue doth take | 7 | ······· |
| Of th' world though to his payne | 6 | ······ |
| For virtues onely sake | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And not till need constrayne. | 6 | ······ |
| Noe man can be so free | 6 | ······ |
| Though in imperiall seate | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Nor Eminent as he | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| That deemeth nothing greate. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
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.