Another Epilogue to the 'Maid's Tragedy,' Designed upon the First Alteration of the Play, When the King Only Was Left Alive
Aspasia bleeding on the stage does lie,To show you still 'tis the Maid's Tragedy.The fierce Melantius was content, you see,The king should live; be not more fierce than he;Too long indulgent to so rude a time,When love was held so capital a crime,That a crown'd head could no compassion find,But died--because the killer had been kind!This better-natured poet had reprievedGentle Amintor too, had he believedThe fairer sex his pardon could approve,Who to ambition sacrificed his love.Aspasia he has spared; but for her wound(Neglected love!) there could no salve be found.
When next we act this tragedy again,Unless you like the change, I must be slain.Excess of love was heretofore the cause;Now if I die, 'tis want of your applause.
About this text
Another Epilogue to the 'Maid's Tragedy,' Designed upon the First Alteration of the Play, When the King Only Was Left Alive 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, Another Epilogue to the 'Maid's Tragedy,' Designed upon the First Alteration of the Play, When the King Only Was Left Alive, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/another-epilogue-to-the-maid-s-tragedy-designed-upon-the-first-alteration-of-the-play-when-the-king-only-was-left-alive.html, id L26331.
Form and metre
Another Epilogue to the 'Maid's Tragedy,' Designed upon the First Alteration of the Play, When the King Only Was Left Alive is 18 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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-AABBCCDDEEFF lieA · tragedy · seeA · heA · timeB · crimeB · findC · kindC · reprievedD · believedD · approveE · loveE · woundF · foundF
- 2 AABB againA · slainA · causeB · applauseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aspasia bleeding on the stage does lie, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To show you still 'tis the Maid's Tragedy. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| The fierce Melantius was content, you see, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| The king should live; be not more fierce than he; | 10 | ·········· |
| Too long indulgent to so rude a time, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| When love was held so capital a crime, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| That a crown'd head could no compassion find, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| But died--because the killer had been kind! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| This better-natured poet had reprieved | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Gentle Amintor too, had he believed | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| The fairer sex his pardon could approve, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Who to ambition sacrificed his love. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Aspasia he has spared; but for her wound | 10 | ·········· |
| (Neglected love!) there could no salve be found. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| When next we act this tragedy again, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| Unless you like the change, I must be slain. | 10 | ·········· |
| Excess of love was heretofore the cause; | 10 | ˘/····˘/·· |
| Now if I die, 'tis want of your applause. | 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.