Of Love
Anger, in hasty words or blows,Itself discharges on our foes;And sorrow, too, finds some reliefIn tears, which wait upon our grief;So every passion, but fond love,Unto its own redress does move;But that alone the wretch inclinesTo what prevents his own designs;Makes him lament, and sigh, and weep,Disorder'd, tremble, fawn, and creep;Postures which render him despised,Where he endeavours to be prized.
For women (born to be controll'd)Stoop to the forward and the bold;Affect the haughty and the proud,The gay, the frolic, and the loud.Who first the gen'rous steed oppress'd,Not kneeling did salute the beast;But with high courage, life, and force,Approaching, tamed th'unruly horse.
Unwisely we the wiser EastPity, supposing them oppress'dWith tyrants' force, whose law is will,By which they govern, spoil and kill:Each nymph, but moderately fair,Commands with no less rigour here.Should some brave Turk, that walks amongHis twenty lasses, bright and young,And beckons to the willing dame,Preferr'd to quench his present flame,Behold as many gallants here,With modest guise and silent fear,All to one female idol bend,While her high pride does scarce descendTo mark their follies, he would swearThat these her guard of eunuchs were,And that a more majestic queen,Or humbler slaves, he had not seen.
All this with indignation spoke,In vain I struggled with the yokeOf mighty Love; that conqu'ring look,When next beheld, like lightning strookMy blasted soul, and made me bowLower than those I pitied now.
So the tall stag, upon the brinkOf some smooth stream about to drink,Surveying there his armed head,With shame remembers that he fledThe scorned dogs, resolves to tryThe combat next; but if their cryInvades again his trembling ear,He straight resumes his wonted care,Leaves the untasted spring behind,And, wing'd with fear, outflies the wind.
Words in this poem
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- unwisely adv.
- In an unwise manner; foolishly. [AS. unwislice.]
- rigour n.
- Rigidity; stiffness. [L. See Rigor., below.]
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- idol n.
- An image or representation of anything. [OE. idole, F. idole, L. idolum, fr. Gr. Wit, and cf. Eidolon.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- humbler n.
- One who, or that which, humbles some one.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- blasted a.
- Blighted; withered.
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- wonted a.
- Accustomed; customary; usual.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Of Love 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 Love, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/of-love.html, id L09038.
Form and metre
Of Love is 54 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 85% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% 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 AABBCCDDEEFF blowsA · foesA · reliefB · griefB · loveC · moveC · inclinesD · designsD · weepE · creepE · despisedF · prizedF
- 2 AABB--CC controll'dA · boldA · proudB · loudB · oppress'd · beast · forceC · horseC
- 3 --AABCDDEECCFFB-GG east · oppress'd · willA · killA · fairB · hereC · amongD · youngD · dameE · flameE · hereC · fearC · bendF · descendF · swearB · were · queenG · seenG
- 4 AABBCC spokeA · yokeA · lookB · strookB · bowC · nowC
- 5 AABBCCDDEE brinkA · drinkA · headB · fledB · tryC · cryC · earD · careD · behindE · windE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Anger, in hasty words or blows, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Itself discharges on our foes; | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·/· |
| And sorrow, too, finds some relief | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| In tears, which wait upon our grief; | 8 | ······/· |
| So every passion, but fond love, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Unto its own redress does move; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But that alone the wretch inclines | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| To what prevents his own designs; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Makes him lament, and sigh, and weep, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Disorder'd, tremble, fawn, and creep; | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Postures which render him despised, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Where he endeavours to be prized. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| For women (born to be controll'd) | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Stoop to the forward and the bold; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Affect the haughty and the proud, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| The gay, the frolic, and the loud. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who first the gen'rous steed oppress'd, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Not kneeling did salute the beast; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| But with high courage, life, and force, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Approaching, tamed th'unruly horse. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Unwisely we the wiser East | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Pity, supposing them oppress'd | 8 | /˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| With tyrants' force, whose law is will, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By which they govern, spoil and kill: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each nymph, but moderately fair, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| Commands with no less rigour here. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Should some brave Turk, that walks among | 8 | ········ |
| His twenty lasses, bright and young, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And beckons to the willing dame, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Preferr'd to quench his present flame, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Behold as many gallants here, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| With modest guise and silent fear, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All to one female idol bend, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| While her high pride does scarce descend | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To mark their follies, he would swear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That these her guard of eunuchs were, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And that a more majestic queen, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Or humbler slaves, he had not seen. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All this with indignation spoke, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In vain I struggled with the yoke | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of mighty Love; that conqu'ring look, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| When next beheld, like lightning strook | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| My blasted soul, and made me bow | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Lower than those I pitied now. | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| So the tall stag, upon the brink | 8 | ········ |
| Of some smooth stream about to drink, | 8 | ········ |
| Surveying there his armed head, | 8 | ˘/˘···˘· |
| With shame remembers that he fled | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The scorned dogs, resolves to try | 8 | ··˘·˘/·· |
| The combat next; but if their cry | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Invades again his trembling ear, | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| He straight resumes his wonted care, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Leaves the untasted spring behind, | 8 | ········ |
| And, wing'd with fear, outflies the wind. | 7 | ······· |
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