Natura Naturata
What gives us that fantastic fit,That all our judgment and our witTo vulgar custom we submit?
Treason, theft, murder, and all the restOf that foul legion we so detest,Are in their proper names express'd.
Why is it then thought sin or shameThose necessary parts to name,From whence we went, and whence we came?
Nature, whate'er she wants, requires;With love inflaming our desires,Finds engines fit to quench those fires.
Death she abhors; yet when men dieWe are present; but no stander byLooks on when we that loss supply.
Forbidden wares sell twice as dear;Even sack, prohibited last year,A most abominable rate did bear.
'Tis plain our eyes and ears are nice,Only to raise, by that device,Of those commodities the price.
Thus reason's shadows us betray,By tropes and figures led astray,From Nature, both her guide and way.
Words in this poem
- detest v. t.
- To witness against; to denounce; to condemn. [L. detestare, detestatum, and detestari, to curse while calling a deity to witness, to execrate, detest; de + testari to be a witness, testify, testis a witness]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- stander n.
- One who stands.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Natura Naturata 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, Natura Naturata, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/natura-naturata.html, id L09151.
Form and metre
Natura Naturata is 24 lines in 8 stanzas of 3 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAA fitA · witA · submitA
- 2 AAA restA · detestA · express'dA
- 3 AAA shameA · nameA · cameA
- 4 AAA requiresA · desiresA · firesA
- 5 AAA dieA · byA · supplyA
- 6 AAA dearA · yearA · bearA
- 7 AAA niceA · deviceA · priceA
- 8 AAA betrayA · astrayA · wayA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| What gives us that fantastic fit, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That all our judgment and our wit | 8 | ··//˘·/· |
| To vulgar custom we submit? | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Treason, theft, murder, and all the rest | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Of that foul legion we so detest, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Are in their proper names express'd. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Why is it then thought sin or shame | 8 | ········ |
| Those necessary parts to name, | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| From whence we went, and whence we came? | 8 | ········ |
| Nature, whate'er she wants, requires; | 9 | /˘˘˘/··˘/ |
| With love inflaming our desires, | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Finds engines fit to quench those fires. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Death she abhors; yet when men die | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| We are present; but no stander by | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Looks on when we that loss supply. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Forbidden wares sell twice as dear; | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Even sack, prohibited last year, | 8 | /·˘/˘˘·· |
| A most abominable rate did bear. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| 'Tis plain our eyes and ears are nice, | 8 | ··/····· |
| Only to raise, by that device, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Of those commodities the price. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Thus reason's shadows us betray, | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| By tropes and figures led astray, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| From Nature, both her guide and way. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.