G. W. Senior, to the Author
Darke is the day when Phoebus face is shrowded,And weaker sights may wander soone astray;But when they see his glorious raies unclowded,With steddy steps they keepe the perfect way:So, while this Muse in forraine land doth stay,Invention weepes, and pennes are cast aside;The time, like night, deprivd of chearfull day;And few doe write, but ah! too soone may slide.Then hie thee home, that art our perfect guide,And with thy wit illustrate Englands fame,Daunting therby our neighbors ancient pride,That do for Poesie challenge chiefest name:So we that live, and ages that succeed,With great applause thy learned works shall reed.
Ah! Colin, whether on the lowly plaine,Piping to shepheards thy sweet roundelayes,Or whether singing, in some loftie vaine,Heroicke deeds of past or present dayes,Or whether in thy lovely mistresse praiseThou list to exercise thy learned quill,Thy Muse hath got such grace and power to please,With rare invention, beautified by skill,As who therin can ever ioy their fill!O, therefore let that happy Muse proceedTo clime the height of Vertues sacred hill,Where endlesse honour shal be made thy meed:Because no malice of succeeding daiesCan rase those records of thy lasting praise.
Words in this poem
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- colin n.
- The American quail or bobwhite. The name is also applied to other related species. See Bobwhite. [F. colin; prop. a dim. of Colas, contr. fr. Nicolas Nicholas.]
- piping a.
- Playing on a musical pipe. [From Pipe, v.]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
- rase v. t.
- To rub along the surface of; to graze. [F. raser, LL. rasare to scrape often, v. freq. fr. L. radere, rasum, to scrape, shave; cf. Skr. rad to scratch, gnaw, L. rodere to gnaw. Cf. Raze, Razee, Razor,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
G. W. Senior, to the Author is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume 5, Project Gutenberg ebook #10602; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edmund Spenser, G. W. Senior, to the Author, in Amoretti and Epithalamion, and Other Poems (1595), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10602, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/spenser-amoretti/g-w-senior-to-the-author.html, id L23777.
Form and metre
G. W. Senior, to the Author is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG shrowdedA · astrayB · unclowdedA · wayB · stayC · asideD · dayC · slideD · guideE · fameF · prideE · nameF · succeedG · reedG
- 2 ABABCDCDEFEFGG plaineA · roundelayesB · vaineA · dayesB · praiseC · quillD · pleaseC · skillD · fillE · proceedF · hillE · meedF · daiesG · praiseG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Darke is the day when Phoebus face is shrowded, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| And weaker sights may wander soone astray; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| But when they see his glorious raies unclowded, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| With steddy steps they keepe the perfect way: | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| So, while this Muse in forraine land doth stay, | 10 | ·········· |
| Invention weepes, and pennes are cast aside; | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| The time, like night, deprivd of chearfull day; | 10 | ·········· |
| And few doe write, but ah! too soone may slide. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then hie thee home, that art our perfect guide, | 10 | ······/˘/· |
| And with thy wit illustrate Englands fame, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Daunting therby our neighbors ancient pride, | 10 | /˘··//˘/˘· |
| That do for Poesie challenge chiefest name: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| So we that live, and ages that succeed, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| With great applause thy learned works shall reed. | 10 | ··˘/··˘··· |
| Ah! Colin, whether on the lowly plaine, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Piping to shepheards thy sweet roundelayes, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Or whether singing, in some loftie vaine, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Heroicke deeds of past or present dayes, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Or whether in thy lovely mistresse praise | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thou list to exercise thy learned quill, | 10 | ···/˘···˘· |
| Thy Muse hath got such grace and power to please, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| With rare invention, beautified by skill, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| As who therin can ever ioy their fill! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| O, therefore let that happy Muse proceed | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To clime the height of Vertues sacred hill, | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Where endlesse honour shal be made thy meed: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Because no malice of succeeding daies | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Can rase those records of thy lasting praise. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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