Of Her Royal Highness, Mother to the Prince of Orange; and of Her Portrait, Written by the Late Duchess of York, While She Lived with Her
Heroic nymph! in tempests the support,In peace the glory of the British Court!Into whose arms the church, the state, and allThat precious is, or sacred here, did fall.Ages to come, that shall your bounty hear,Will think you mistress of the Indies were;Though straiter bounds your fortunes did confine,In your large heart was found a wealthy mine;Like the bless'd oil, the widow's lasting feast,Your treasure, as you pour'd it out, increased.
While some your beauty, some your bounty sing,Your native isle does with your praises ring;But, above all, a nymph of your own trainGives us your character in such a strain,As none but she, who in that Court did dwell,Could know such worth, or worth describe so well.So while we mortals here at heaven do guess,And more our weakness, than the place, express,Some angel, a domestic there, comes down,And tells the wonders he hath seen and known.
'Prince of Orange': Mary, Princess of Orange, and sister to CharlesII.'Train': Lady Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, andafterwards Duchess of York, and mother of Queen Mary and Queen Anne.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- duchess n.
- The wife or widow of a duke; also, a lady who has the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. [F. duchesse, fr. duc duke.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Of Her Royal Highness, Mother to the Prince of Orange; and of Her Portrait, Written by the Late Duchess of York, While She Lived with Her 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, Of Her Royal Highness, Mother to the Prince of Orange; and of Her Portrait, Written by the Late Duchess of York, While She Lived with Her, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/of-her-royal-highness-mother-to-the-prince-of-orange-and-of-her-portrait-written-by-the-late-duchess-of-york-while-she-lived-with-her.html, id L26315.
Form and metre
Of Her Royal Highness, Mother to the Prince of Orange; and of Her Portrait, Written by the Late Duchess of York, While She Lived with Her is 24 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 AABB--CCDD supportA · courtA · allB · fallB · hear · were · confineC · mineC · feastD · increasedD
- 2 AABBCCDDEE singA · ringA · trainB · strainB · dwellC · wellC · guessD · expressD · downE · knownE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heroic nymph! in tempests the support, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| In peace the glory of the British Court! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Into whose arms the church, the state, and all | 10 | ·········· |
| That precious is, or sacred here, did fall. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Ages to come, that shall your bounty hear, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Will think you mistress of the Indies were; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Though straiter bounds your fortunes did confine, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| In your large heart was found a wealthy mine; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Like the bless'd oil, the widow's lasting feast, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Your treasure, as you pour'd it out, increased. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| While some your beauty, some your bounty sing, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Your native isle does with your praises ring; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| But, above all, a nymph of your own train | 10 | ·········· |
| Gives us your character in such a strain, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| As none but she, who in that Court did dwell, | 10 | ·········· |
| Could know such worth, or worth describe so well. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| So while we mortals here at heaven do guess, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| And more our weakness, than the place, express, | 10 | ··//˘···˘/ |
| Some angel, a domestic there, comes down, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| And tells the wonders he hath seen and known. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| 'Prince of Orange': Mary, Princess of Orange, and sister to Charles | 16 | ··/˘/˘/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| II. | 1 | · |
| 'Train': Lady Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, and | 14 | ·/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| afterwards Duchess of York, and mother of Queen Mary and Queen Anne. | 16 | /˘/˘···/˘··/˘··· |
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 3 'Train': Lady Anne Hyde, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, and afterwards Duchess of York, and mother of Queen Mary and Queen Anne.
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