Canto I
The Grecian Muse has all their gods survived,Nor Jove at us, nor Phoebus is arrived;Frail deities! which first the poets made,And then invoked, to give their fancies aid.Yet if they still divert us with their rage,What may be hoped for in a better age,When not from Helicon's imagined spring,But Sacred Writ, we borrow what we sing?This with the fabric of the world begun,Elder than light, and shall outlast the sun.Before this oracle, like Dagon, allThe false pretenders, Delphos, Ammon, fall;Long since despised and silent, they affordHonour and triumph to th'Eternal Word.
As late philosophy our globe has graced,And rolling earth among the planets placed,So has this book entitled us to heaven,And rules to guide us to that mansion given;Tells the conditions how our peace was made,And is our pledge for the great Author's aid.His power in Nature's ample book we find,But the less volume does express his mind.
This light unknown, bold Epicurus taughtThat his bless'd gods vouchsafe us not a thought,But unconcern'd let all below them slide,As fortune does, or human wisdom, guide.Religion thus removed, the sacred yoke,And band of all society, is broke.What use of oaths, of promise, or of test,Where men regard no God but interest?What endless war would jealous nations tear,If none above did witness what they swear?Sad fate of unbelievers, and yet just,Among themselves to find so little trust!Were Scripture silent, Nature would proclaim,Without a God, our falsehood and our shame.To know our thoughts the object of his eyes,Is the first step t'wards being good or wise;For though with judgment we on things reflect,Our will determines, not our intellect.Slaves to their passion, reason men employOnly to compass what they would enjoy.His fear to guard us from ourselves we need,And Sacred Writ our reason does exceed;For though heaven shows the glory of the Lord,Yet something shines more glorious in His Word;His mercy this (which all His work excels!)His tender kindness and compassion tells;While we, inform'd by that celestial Book,Into the bowels of our Maker look.Love there reveal'd (which never shall have end,Nor had beginning) shall our song commend;Describe itself, and warm us with that flameWhich first from heaven, to make us happy, came.
Words in this poem
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- 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,]
- outlast v. t.
- To exceed in duration; to survive; to endure longer than.
- oracle v. i.
- To utter oracles.
- dagon n.
- A slip or piece. [See Dag a loose end.]
- 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.]
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto I 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, Canto I, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/canto-i-2.html, id L09134.
Form and metre
Canto I is 54 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABBCCDDEEFF-- survivedA · arrivedA · madeB · aidB · rageC · ageC · springD · singD · begunE · sunE · allF · fallF · afford · word
- 2 AA--BBCC gracedA · placedA · heaven · given · madeB · aidB · findC · mindC
- 3 AABBCCDDEEDDFFGGHHIIJJ--KKLLMMNN taughtA · thoughtA · slideB · guideB · yokeC · brokeC · testD · interestD · tearE · swearE · justD · trustD · proclaimF · shameF · eyesG · wiseG · reflectH · intellectH · employI · enjoyI · needJ · exceedJ · lord · word · excelsK · tellsK · bookL · lookL · endM · commendM · flameN · cameN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Grecian Muse has all their gods survived, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Nor Jove at us, nor Phoebus is arrived; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Frail deities! which first the poets made, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| And then invoked, to give their fancies aid. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Yet if they still divert us with their rage, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| What may be hoped for in a better age, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When not from Helicon's imagined spring, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| But Sacred Writ, we borrow what we sing? | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| This with the fabric of the world begun, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Elder than light, and shall outlast the sun. | 10 | /˘····/··· |
| Before this oracle, like Dagon, all | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| The false pretenders, Delphos, Ammon, fall; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Long since despised and silent, they afford | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Honour and triumph to th'Eternal Word. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| As late philosophy our globe has graced, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘/··· |
| And rolling earth among the planets placed, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| So has this book entitled us to heaven, | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| And rules to guide us to that mansion given; | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Tells the conditions how our peace was made, | 10 | ··˘/˘·/··· |
| And is our pledge for the great Author's aid. | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| His power in Nature's ample book we find, | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘··· |
| But the less volume does express his mind. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| This light unknown, bold Epicurus taught | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| That his bless'd gods vouchsafe us not a thought, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| But unconcern'd let all below them slide, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| As fortune does, or human wisdom, guide. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Religion thus removed, the sacred yoke, | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And band of all society, is broke. | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| What use of oaths, of promise, or of test, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where men regard no God but interest? | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| What endless war would jealous nations tear, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| If none above did witness what they swear? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sad fate of unbelievers, and yet just, | 10 | ·········· |
| Among themselves to find so little trust! | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Were Scripture silent, Nature would proclaim, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Without a God, our falsehood and our shame. | 10 | ····//··/· |
| To know our thoughts the object of his eyes, | 10 | ··/··˘/··· |
| Is the first step t'wards being good or wise; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For though with judgment we on things reflect, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Our will determines, not our intellect. | 10 | /·˘/˘·//˘· |
| Slaves to their passion, reason men employ | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Only to compass what they would enjoy. | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| His fear to guard us from ourselves we need, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And Sacred Writ our reason does exceed; | 10 | ·/˘·//˘·˘/ |
| For though heaven shows the glory of the Lord, | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| Yet something shines more glorious in His Word; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| His mercy this (which all His work excels!) | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| His tender kindness and compassion tells; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| While we, inform'd by that celestial Book, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Into the bowels of our Maker look. | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| Love there reveal'd (which never shall have end, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Nor had beginning) shall our song commend; | 10 | ··˘/˘·/·˘/ |
| Describe itself, and warm us with that flame | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Which first from heaven, to make us happy, came. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
Notes from the edition 1
George Gilfillan's notes to the Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham (1857; Project Gutenberg #12322).
- Stanza 2, line 1 'Late philosophy': that of Copernicus.
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.