An Occasional Imitation of a Modern Author upon the Game of Chess
A tablet stood of that abstersive tree,Where Aethiop's swarthy bird did build her nest;Inlaid it was with Libyan ivory,Drawn from the jaws of Afric's prudent beast.Two kings like Saul, much taller than the rest,Their equal armies draw into the field;Till one take th'other pris'ner they contest;Courage and fortune must to conduct yield.This game the Persian Magi did invent,The force of Eastern wisdom to express;From thence to busy Europeans sent,And styled by modern Lombards pensive Chess.Yet some that fled from Troy to Rome report,Penthesilea Priam did oblige;Her Amazons his Trojans taught this sport,To pass the tedious hours of ten years' siege.There she presents herself, whilst kings and peersLook gravely on whilst fierce Bellona fights;Yet maiden modesty her motions steers,Nor rudely skips o'er bishops' heads like knights.
Words in this poem
- abstersive a.
- Cleansing; purging. [Cf. F. abstersif. See Absterge.]
- libyan a.
- Of or pertaining to Libya, the ancient name of that part of Africa between Egypt and the Atlantic Ocean, or of Africa as a whole.
- invent v. t.
- To come or light upon; to meet; to find. [L. inventus, p. p. of invenire to come upon, to find, invent; pref. in- in + venire to come, akin to E. come: cf. F. inventer. See Come.]
- oblige v. t.
- To attach, as by a bond. [OF. obligier, F.obliger, L. obligare; ob (see Ob-) + ligare to bind. See Ligament, and cf. Obligate.]
- gravely adv.
- In a grave manner.
- bellona n.
- The goddess of war. [L., from bellum war.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Occasional Imitation of a Modern Author upon the Game of Chess 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, An Occasional Imitation of a Modern Author upon the Game of Chess, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/an-occasional-imitation-of-a-modern-author-upon-the-game-of-.html, id L09162.
Form and metre
An Occasional Imitation of a Modern Author upon the Game of Chess is 20 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-AABABCDCDE-E-FGFG tree · nestA · ivory · beastA · restA · fieldB · contestA · yieldB · inventC · expressD · sentC · chessD · reportE · oblige · sportE · siege · peersF · fightsG · steersF · knightsG
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 tablet stood of that abstersive tree, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Where Aethiop's swarthy bird did build her nest; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Inlaid it was with Libyan ivory, | 11 | /····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Drawn from the jaws of Afric's prudent beast. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Two kings like Saul, much taller than the rest, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Their equal armies draw into the field; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Till one take th'other pris'ner they contest; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Courage and fortune must to conduct yield. | 10 | /˘·/˘··˘/· |
| This game the Persian Magi did invent, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The force of Eastern wisdom to express; | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| From thence to busy Europeans sent, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| And styled by modern Lombards pensive Chess. | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Yet some that fled from Troy to Rome report, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Penthesilea Priam did oblige; | 9 | ····/··˘/ |
| Her Amazons his Trojans taught this sport, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| To pass the tedious hours of ten years' siege. | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| There she presents herself, whilst kings and peers | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Look gravely on whilst fierce Bellona fights; | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Yet maiden modesty her motions steers, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Nor rudely skips o'er bishops' heads like knights. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
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.