In Answer to One Who Writ a Libel Against the Countess of Carlisle
What fury has provoked thy wit to dare,With Diomede, to wound the Queen of Love?Thy mistress' envy, or thine own despair?Not the just Pallas in thy breast did moveSo blind a rage, with such a diff'rent fate;He honour won, where thou hast purchased hate.
She gave assistance to his Trojan foe;Thou, that without a rival thou may'st love,Dost to the beauty of this lady owe,While after her the gazing world does move.Canst thou not be content to love alone?Or is thy mistress not content with one?
Hast thou not read of Fairy Arthur's shield,Which, but disclosed, amazed the weaker eyesOf proudest foes, and won the doubtful field?So shall thy rebel wit become her prize.Should thy iambics swell into a book,All were confuted with one radiant look.
Heaven he obliged that placed her in the skies;Rewarding Phoebus, for inspiring soHis noble brain, by likening to those eyesHis joyful beams; but Phoebus is thy foe,And neither aids thy fancy nor thy sight,So ill thou rhym'st against so fair a light.
Words in this poem
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
- 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.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Answer to One Who Writ a Libel Against the Countess of Carlisle 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, In Answer to One Who Writ a Libel Against the Countess of Carlisle, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/in-answer-to-one-who-writ-a-libel-against-the-countess-of-ca.html, id L09021.
Form and metre
In Answer to One Who Writ a Libel Against the Countess of Carlisle is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 17% 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 ABABCC dareA · loveB · despairA · moveB · fateC · hateC
- 2 ABABCC foeA · loveB · oweA · moveB · aloneC · oneC
- 3 ABABCC shieldA · eyesB · fieldA · prizeB · bookC · lookC
- 4 ABABCC skiesA · soB · eyesA · foeB · sightC · lightC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What fury has provoked thy wit to dare, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| With Diomede, to wound the Queen of Love? | 9 | ········· |
| Thy mistress' envy, or thine own despair? | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Not the just Pallas in thy breast did move | 10 | ·········· |
| So blind a rage, with such a diff'rent fate; | 10 | ·········· |
| He honour won, where thou hast purchased hate. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| She gave assistance to his Trojan foe; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Thou, that without a rival thou may'st love, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Dost to the beauty of this lady owe, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While after her the gazing world does move. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Canst thou not be content to love alone? | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Or is thy mistress not content with one? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Hast thou not read of Fairy Arthur's shield, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Which, but disclosed, amazed the weaker eyes | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
| Of proudest foes, and won the doubtful field? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| So shall thy rebel wit become her prize. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Should thy iambics swell into a book, | 9 | ········· |
| All were confuted with one radiant look. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Heaven he obliged that placed her in the skies; | 10 | /·˘/······ |
| Rewarding Phoebus, for inspiring so | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| His noble brain, by likening to those eyes | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| His joyful beams; but Phoebus is thy foe, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And neither aids thy fancy nor thy sight, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| So ill thou rhym'st against so fair a light. | 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.