Polyhymnia
A dolefull case desires a dolefull song,Without vaine art or curious complements;And squallid Fortune, into basenes flong,Doth scorne the pride of wonted ornaments.Then fittest are these ragged rimes for mee,To tell my sorrowes that exceeding bee.
For the sweet numbers and melodious measuresWith which I wont the winged words to tie,And make a tunefull diapase of pleasures,Now being let to runne at libertieBy those which have no skill to rule them right,Have now quite lost their naturall delight.
Heapes of huge words uphoorded hideously,With horrid sound, though having little sence,They thinke to be chiefe praise of poetry;And, thereby wanting due intelligence,Have mard the face of goodly poesie,And made a monster of their fantasie.
Whilom in ages past none might professeBut princes and high priests that secret skill;The sacred lawes therein they wont expresse,And with deepe oracles their verses fill:Then was shee held in soveraigne dignitie,And made the noursling of nobilitie.
But now nor prince nor priest doth her maintayne,But suffer her prophaned for to beeOf the base vulgar, that with hands uncleaneDares to pollute her hidden mysterie;And treadeth under foote hir holie things,Which was the care of kesars and of kings.
One onelie lives, her ages ornament,And myrrour of her Makers maiestie,That with rich bountie and deare cherishmentSupports the praise of noble poesie;Ne onelie favours them which it professe,But is her selfe a peereles poetresse.
Most peereles Prince, most peereles Poetresse,The true Pandora of all heavenly graces,Divine Elisa, sacred Emperesse!Live she for ever, and her royall p’lacesBe fild with praises of divinest wits,That her eternize with their heavenlie writs!
Some few beside this sacred skill esteme,Admirers of her glorious excellence;Which, being lightned with her beawties beme,Are thereby fild with happie influence,And lifted up above the worldës gaze,To sing with angels her immortall praize.
But all the rest, as borne of salvage brood,And having beene with acorns alwaies fed,Can no whit savour this celestiall food,But with base thoughts are into blindnesse led,And kept from looking on the lightsome day:For whome I waile and weepe all that I may.
Eftsoones such store of teares shee forth did powre,As if shee all to water would have gone;And all her sisters, seeing her sad stowre**,Did weep and waile, and made exceeding mone,And all their learned instruments did breake:The rest untold no living tongue can speake.
Words in this poem 20
- dolefull a.
- Full of dole or grief; expressing or exciting sorrow; sorrowful; sad; dismal.
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
- tunefull a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- naturall n.
- A native; an aboriginal. Sir W. Raleigh.
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- whilom adv.
- Formerly; once; of old; erewhile; at times. [AS. hwilum, properly, at times, dative pl. of hwil; akin to G. weiland formerly, OHG. hwilm, See While, n.]
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- cherishment n.
- Encouragement; comfort.
- royall a.
- Kingly; pertaining to the crown or the sovereign; suitable for a king or queen; regal; as, royal power or prerogative; royal domains; the royal family; royal state. [OE. roial, riall, real, OF. roial. reial, F. royal, fr. L. regalis, fr. rex, regis, king. See Rich, and cf. regal, real a coin, Rial.]
- eternize v. t.
- To make eternal or endless. [Cf. F. éterniser.]
- 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.]
- immortall a.
- Not mortal; exempt from liability to die; undying; imperishable; lasting forever; having unlimited, or eternal, existance. [L. immortalis; pref. im- not + mortalis mortal: cf. F. immortel. See Mortal, and cf. Immortelle.]
- salvage n.
- The act of saving a vessel, goods, or life, goods, or life, from perils of the sea. [F. salvage, OF. salver to save, F. sauver, fr. L. salvare. See Save.]
- whit n.
- The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence. [OE. wight, wiht, AS. wiht a creature, a thing. See Wight, and cf. Aught, Naught.]
- savour v. t.
- To perceive by the smell or the taste; hence, to perceive; to note. B. Jonson.
- celestiall a.
- Belonging to the aërial regions, or visible heavens. [OF. celestial, celestied, fr. L. caelestic, fr. caelum heaved. See Cell.]
- lightsome a.
- Having light; lighted; not dark or gloomy; bright.
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Polyhymnia 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, Polyhymnia, in Amoretti and Epithalamion, and Other Poems (1595), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10602, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/spenser-amoretti/polyhymnia.html, id L23758.
Form and metre
Polyhymnia is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 4 of the 10 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See 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 A-A-BB songA · complements · flongA · ornaments · meeB · beeB
- 2 A-A-BB measuresA · tie · pleasuresA · libertie · rightB · delightB
- 3 -A-ABB hideously · senceA · poetry · intelligenceA · poesieB · fantasieB
- 4 ABABCC professeA · skillB · expresseA · fillB · dignitieC · nobilitieC
- 5 ----AA maintayne · bee · uncleane · mysterie · thingsA · kingsA
- 6 ABABCC ornamentA · maiestieB · cherishmentA · poesieB · professeC · poetresseC
- 7 ABABCC poetresseA · gracesB · emperesseA · p'lacesB · witsC · writsC
- 8 A-A-BB estemeA · excellence · bemeA · influence · gazeB · praizeB
- 9 ABABCC broodA · fedB · foodA · ledB · dayC · mayC
- 10 ----AA powre · gone · stowre · mone · breakeA · speakeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A dolefull case desires a dolefull song, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Without vaine art or curious complements; | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| And squallid Fortune, into basenes flong, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Doth scorne the pride of wonted ornaments. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Then fittest are these ragged rimes for mee, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| To tell my sorrowes that exceeding bee. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| For the sweet numbers and melodious measures | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| With which I wont the winged words to tie, | 10 | ······˘··· |
| And make a tunefull diapase of pleasures, | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Now being let to runne at libertie | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By those which have no skill to rule them right, | 10 | ·········· |
| Have now quite lost their naturall delight. | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Heapes of huge words uphoorded hideously, | 11 | ·······/˘˘˘ |
| With horrid sound, though having little sence, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| They thinke to be chiefe praise of poetry; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And, thereby wanting due intelligence, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Have mard the face of goodly poesie, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And made a monster of their fantasie. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Whilom in ages past none might professe | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| But princes and high priests that secret skill; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The sacred lawes therein they wont expresse, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And with deepe oracles their verses fill: | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Then was shee held in soveraigne dignitie, | 11 | ··········· |
| And made the noursling of nobilitie. | 10 | ·········· |
| But now nor prince nor priest doth her maintayne, | 10 | ·········· |
| But suffer her prophaned for to bee | 10 | ·/˘···˘··· |
| Of the base vulgar, that with hands uncleane | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Dares to pollute her hidden mysterie; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And treadeth under foote hir holie things, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Which was the care of kesars and of kings. | 10 | ·········· |
| One onelie lives, her ages ornament, | 11 | ······/˘/˘˘ |
| And myrrour of her Makers maiestie, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That with rich bountie and deare cherishment | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Supports the praise of noble poesie; | 9 | ˘/···/˘·· |
| Ne onelie favours them which it professe, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| But is her selfe a peereles poetresse. | 9 | ········· |
| Most peereles Prince, most peereles Poetresse, | 9 | ········· |
| The true Pandora of all heavenly graces, | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Divine Elisa, sacred Emperesse! | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Live she for ever, and her royall p’laces | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Be fild with praises of divinest wits, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| That her eternize with their heavenlie writs! | 11 | ··˘/˘······ |
| Some few beside this sacred skill esteme, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Admirers of her glorious excellence; | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Which, being lightned with her beawties beme, | 9 | ·/˘·˘···· |
| Are thereby fild with happie influence, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And lifted up above the worldës gaze, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| To sing with angels her immortall praize. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| But all the rest, as borne of salvage brood, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And having beene with acorns alwaies fed, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Can no whit savour this celestiall food, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| But with base thoughts are into blindnesse led, | 10 | ·········· |
| And kept from looking on the lightsome day: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For whome I waile and weepe all that I may. | 11 | ··········· |
| Eftsoones such store of teares shee forth did powre, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| As if shee all to water would have gone; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And all her sisters, seeing her sad stowre**, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Did weep and waile, and made exceeding mone, | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| And all their learned instruments did breake: | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| The rest untold no living tongue can speake. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
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