Hymn in Praise of Neptune
Of Neptune’s empire let us sing,At whose command the waves obey;To whom the rivers tribute pay,Down the high mountains sliding:To whom the scaly nation yieldsHomage for the crystal fieldsWherein they dwell:And every sea-dog pays a gemYearly out of his wat’ry cellTo deck great Neptune’s diadem.
The Tritons dancing in a ringBefore his palace gates do makeThe water with their echoes quake,Like the great thunder sounding:The sea-nymphs chant their accents shrill,And the sirens, taught to killWith their sweet voice,Make ev’ry echoing rock replyUnto their gentle murmuring noiseThe praise of Neptune’s empery.
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- empery n.
- Empire; sovereignty; dominion. [L. imperium, influenced by OF. emperie, empire. See Empire.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hymn in Praise of Neptune is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campion, Hymn in Praise of Neptune, in Poems (1567–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-thomas-campion/hymn-in-praise-of-neptune.html, id L15995.
Form and metre
Hymn in Praise of Neptune is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 45% 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 ABBACCDEDE singA · obeyB · payB · slidingA · yieldsC · fieldsC · dwellD · gemE · cellD · diademE
- 2 ABBACC---- ringA · makeB · quakeB · soundingA · shrillC · killC · voice · reply · noise · empery
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Of Neptune’s empire let us sing, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| At whose command the waves obey; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| To whom the rivers tribute pay, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Down the high mountains sliding: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| To whom the scaly nation yields | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Homage for the crystal fields | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Wherein they dwell: | 4 | ···· |
| And every sea-dog pays a gem | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Yearly out of his wat’ry cell | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| To deck great Neptune’s diadem. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The Tritons dancing in a ring | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Before his palace gates do make | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The water with their echoes quake, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Like the great thunder sounding: | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The sea-nymphs chant their accents shrill, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the sirens, taught to kill | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With their sweet voice, | 4 | ···· |
| Make ev’ry echoing rock reply | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Unto their gentle murmuring noise | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The praise of Neptune’s empery. | 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.