A Presage of the Ruin of the Turkish Empire; Presented to His Majesty King James II. on His Birthday
Since James the Second graced the British throne,Truce, well observed, has been infring'd by none;Christians to him their present union owe,And late success against the common foe;While neighb'ring princes, both to urge their fate,Court his assistance, and suspend their hate.So angry bulls the combat do forbear,When from the wood a lion does appear.
This happy day peace to our island sent,As now he gives it to the Continent.A prince more fit for such a glorious task,Than England's king, from Heaven we cannot ask;He, great and good! proportion'd to the work,Their ill-drawn swords shall turn against the Turk.
Such kings, like stars with influence unconfined,Shine with aspect propitious to mankind;Favour the innocent, repress the bold,And, while they flourish, make an age of gold.
Bred in the camp, famed for his valour, young;At sea successful, vigorous, and strong;His fleet, his array, and his mighty mind,Esteem and rev'rence through the world do find.A prince with such advantages as these,Where he persuades not, may command a peace.Britain declaring for the juster side,The most ambitious will forget their pride;They that complain will their endeavours cease,Advised by him, inclined to present peace,Join to the Turk's destruction, and then bringAll their pretences to so just a king.
If the successful troublers of mankind,With laurel crown'd, so great applause do find,Shall the vex'd world less honour yield to thoseThat stop their progress, and their rage oppose?Next to that power which does the ocean awe,Is to set bounds, and give ambition law.
The British monarch shall the glory have,That famous Greece remains no longer slave;That source of art and cultivated thought!Which they to Rome, and Romans hither brought.
The banish'd Muses shall no longer mourn,But may with liberty to Greece return;Though slaves (like birds that sing not in a cage),They lost their genius, and poetic rage;Homers again, and Pindars, may be found,And his great actions with their numbers crown'd.
The Turk's vast empire does united stand;Christians, divided under the commandOf jarring princes, would be soon undone,Did not this hero make their int'rest one;Peace to embrace, ruin the common foe,Exalt the Cross, and lay the Crescent low.
Thus may the Gospel to the rising sunBe spread, and flourish where it first began;And this great day, (so justly honour'd here!)Known to the East, and celebrated there.
Hæc ego longævus cecini tibi, maxime regum!Ausus et ipse manu juvenum tentare laborem.--VIRG.
Words in this poem
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- 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.]
- 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,]
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- 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.]
- jarring a.
- Shaking; disturbing; discordant. [See Jar.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- manu n.
- One of a series of progenitors of human beings, and authors of human wisdom. [Skr.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Presage of the Ruin of the Turkish Empire; Presented to His Majesty King James II. on His Birthday is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham, Project Gutenberg ebook #12322; 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 Waller, A Presage of the Ruin of the Turkish Empire; Presented to His Majesty King James II. on His Birthday, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/a-presage-of-the-ruin-of-the-turkish-empire-presented-to-his-majesty-king-james-ii-on-his-birthday.html, id L26320.
Form and metre
A Presage of the Ruin of the Turkish Empire; Presented to His Majesty King James II. on His Birthday is 58 lines in 10 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 --AABBCC throne · none · oweA · foeA · fateB · hateB · forbearC · appearC
- 2 AABBCC sentA · continentA · taskB · askB · workC · turkC
- 3 AABB unconfinedA · mankindA · boldB · goldB
- 4 --AA-BCCBBDD young · strong · mindA · findA · these · peaceB · sideC · prideC · ceaseB · peaceB · bringD · kingD
- 5 AABBCC mankindA · findA · thoseB · opposeB · aweC · lawC
- 6 AABB haveA · slaveA · thoughtB · broughtB
- 7 AABBCC mournA · returnA · cageB · rageB · foundC · crown'dC
- 8 AABBCC standA · commandA · undoneB · oneB · foeC · lowC
- 9 AABB sunA · beganA · hereB · thereB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Since James the Second graced the British throne, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Truce, well observed, has been infring'd by none; | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Christians to him their present union owe, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| And late success against the common foe; | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| While neighb'ring princes, both to urge their fate, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Court his assistance, and suspend their hate. | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| So angry bulls the combat do forbear, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| When from the wood a lion does appear. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| This happy day peace to our island sent, | 10 | ·/˘···//˘· |
| As now he gives it to the Continent. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| A prince more fit for such a glorious task, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Than England's king, from Heaven we cannot ask; | 10 | ·/˘··/·/˘· |
| He, great and good! proportion'd to the work, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Their ill-drawn swords shall turn against the Turk. | 10 | ·········· |
| Such kings, like stars with influence unconfined, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Shine with aspect propitious to mankind; | 10 | ··/·˘/˘·// |
| Favour the innocent, repress the bold, | 10 | /˘·/˘˘˘/·· |
| And, while they flourish, make an age of gold. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Bred in the camp, famed for his valour, young; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| At sea successful, vigorous, and strong; | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| His fleet, his array, and his mighty mind, | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| Esteem and rev'rence through the world do find. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| A prince with such advantages as these, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Where he persuades not, may command a peace. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Britain declaring for the juster side, | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| The most ambitious will forget their pride; | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| They that complain will their endeavours cease, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Advised by him, inclined to present peace, | 10 | ˘/··˘/·/˘· |
| Join to the Turk's destruction, and then bring | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| All their pretences to so just a king. | 10 | ·········· |
| If the successful troublers of mankind, | 10 | ··˘/˘···// |
| With laurel crown'd, so great applause do find, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Shall the vex'd world less honour yield to those | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That stop their progress, and their rage oppose? | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| Next to that power which does the ocean awe, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Is to set bounds, and give ambition law. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The British monarch shall the glory have, | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| That famous Greece remains no longer slave; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| That source of art and cultivated thought! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Which they to Rome, and Romans hither brought. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The banish'd Muses shall no longer mourn, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| But may with liberty to Greece return; | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Though slaves (like birds that sing not in a cage), | 10 | ·········· |
| They lost their genius, and poetic rage; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Homers again, and Pindars, may be found, | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| And his great actions with their numbers crown'd. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The Turk's vast empire does united stand; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Christians, divided under the command | 10 | /˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| Of jarring princes, would be soon undone, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Did not this hero make their int'rest one; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Peace to embrace, ruin the common foe, | 10 | ··˘//˘·/˘· |
| Exalt the Cross, and lay the Crescent low. | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Thus may the Gospel to the rising sun | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Be spread, and flourish where it first began; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And this great day, (so justly honour'd here!) | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Known to the East, and celebrated there. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Hæc ego longævus cecini tibi, maxime regum! | 15 | ·/˘······/·˘/·· |
| Ausus et ipse manu juvenum tentare laborem.--VIRG. | 15 | ····/·········· |
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