To, My Noble Kinsman Thomas Stanley, Esq, on His Lyrick Poems Composed, by Mr. John Gamble
What means this stately tablature,The ballance of thy streins,Which seems, in stead of sifting pure,T' extend and rack thy veins?Thy Odes first their own harmony did break:For singing, troth, is but in tune to speak.
Nor trus thy golden feet and wings.It may be thought false melodyT' ascend to heav'n by silver strings;This is Urania's heraldry.Thy royal poem now we may extol,As truly Luna blazon'd upon Sol.
As when Amphion first did callEach listning stone from's den;And with his lute did form the wall,But with his words the men;So in your twisted numbers now you thusNot only stocks perswade, but ravish us.
Thus do your ayrs eccho oreThe notes and anthems of the sphaeres,And their whole consort back restore,As if earth too would blesse Heav'ns ears;But yet the spoaks, by which they scal'd so high,Gamble hath wisely laid of UT RE MI.AN.5
Lovelace wrote these lines for AYRES AND DIALOGUES. TO BE SUNGTO THE THEORBO, LUTE, OR BASE-VIOLL: By John Gamble, London,Printed by William Godbid for the Author, 1656. folio. [The words
Words in this poem
- tablature n.
- A painting on a wall or ceiling; a single piece comprehended in one view, and formed according to one design; hence, a picture in general. Shaftesbury.
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- heraldry n.
- The art or office of a herald; the art, practice, or science of recording genealogies, and blazoning arms or ensigns armorial; also, of marshaling cavalcades, processions, and public ceremonies.
- extol v. t.
- To place on high; to lift up; to elevate. [L. extollere; ex out + tollere to lift, take up, or raise: cf. OF. extoller. See Tollerate, and cf. Flate.]
- gamble v. i.
- To play or game for money or other stake. [Dim. of game. See 2d Game.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To, My Noble Kinsman Thomas Stanley, Esq, on His Lyrick Poems Composed, by Mr. John Gamble is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lucasta, Project Gutenberg ebook #703; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Richard Lovelace, To, My Noble Kinsman Thomas Stanley, Esq, on His Lyrick Poems Composed, by Mr. John Gamble, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/to-my-noble-kinsman-thomas-stanley-esq-on-his-lyrick-poems-c.html, id L13068.
Form and metre
To, My Noble Kinsman Thomas Stanley, Esq, on His Lyrick Poems Composed, by Mr. John Gamble is 27 lines in 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 -A-A-- tablature · streinsA · pure · veinsA · break · speak
- 2 A-A-BB wingsA · melody · stringsA · heraldry · extolB · solB
- 3 ABABCC callA · denB · wallA · menB · thusC · usC
- 4 ABAB-- oreA · sphaeresB · restoreA · earsB · high · mi.an.5
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| What means this stately tablature, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The ballance of thy streins, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Which seems, in stead of sifting pure, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| T' extend and rack thy veins? | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Thy Odes first their own harmony did break: | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| For singing, troth, is but in tune to speak. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nor trus thy golden feet and wings. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It may be thought false melody | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| T' ascend to heav'n by silver strings; | 9 | ·˘/···/˘· |
| This is Urania's heraldry. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Thy royal poem now we may extol, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| As truly Luna blazon'd upon Sol. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| As when Amphion first did call | 7 | ······· |
| Each listning stone from's den; | 6 | ······ |
| And with his lute did form the wall, | 8 | ········ |
| But with his words the men; | 6 | ······ |
| So in your twisted numbers now you thus | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Not only stocks perswade, but ravish us. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thus do your ayrs eccho ore | 7 | ······· |
| The notes and anthems of the sphaeres, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And their whole consort back restore, | 8 | ···˘/·˘/ |
| As if earth too would blesse Heav'ns ears; | 8 | ········ |
| But yet the spoaks, by which they scal'd so high, | 10 | ·········· |
| Gamble hath wisely laid of UT RE MI.AN.5 | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| Lovelace wrote these lines for AYRES AND DIALOGUES. TO BE SUNG | 14 | /·······/˘···· |
| TO THE THEORBO, LUTE, OR BASE-VIOLL: By John Gamble, London, | 15 | ··˘/˘······/˘/˘ |
| Printed by William Godbid for the Author, 1656. folio. [The words | 15 | /˘·/˘····/˘/˘·· |
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.