Of the Lady Mary, Princess of Orange
As once the lion honey gave,Out of the strong such sweetness came;A royal hero, no less brave,Produced this sweet, this lovely dame.
To her the prince, that did opposeSuch mighty armies in the field,And Holland from prevailing foesCould so well free, himself does yield.
Not Belgia's fleet (his high command)Which triumphs where the sun does rise,Nor all the force he leads by land,Could guard him from her conqu'ring eyes.
Orange, with youth, experience has;In action young, in council old;Orange is, what Augustus was,Brave, wary, provident, and bold.
On that fair tree which bears his name,Blossoms and fruit at once are found;In him we all admire the same,His flow'ry youth with wisdom crown'd!
Empire and freedom reconciledIn Holland are by great Nassau;Like those he sprung from, just and mild,To willing people he gives law.
Thrice happy pair! so near alliedIn royal blood, and virtue too!Now love has you together tied,May none this triple knot undo!
The church shall be the happy placeWhere streams, which from the same source run,Though divers lands a while they grace,Unite again, and are made one.
A thousand thanks the nation owesTo him that does protect us all;For while he thus his niece bestows,About our isle he builds a wall;
A wall! like that which Athens had,By th'oracle's advice, of wood;Had theirs been such as Charles has made,That mighty state till now had stood.
'Princess of Orange': The Princess Mary was married to the Prince ofOrange at St. James's, in November 1677.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- 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,]
- divers a.
- Different in kind or species; diverse. [F. divers, L. diversus turned in different directions, different, p. p. of divertere. See Divert, and cf. Diverse.]
- niece n.
- A relative, in general; especially, a descendant, whether male or female; a granddaughter or a grandson. B. Jonson. Wyclif. [OE. nece, F. nièce, LL. neptia, for L. neptis a granddaughter, niece, akin to nepos. See Nephew.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Of the Lady Mary, Princess of Orange 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 the Lady Mary, Princess of Orange, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/of-the-lady-mary-princess-of-orange.html, id L09067.
Form and metre
Of the Lady Mary, Princess of Orange is 42 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABAB gaveA · cameB · braveA · dameB
- 2 ABAB opposeA · fieldB · foesA · yieldB
- 3 ABAB commandA · riseB · landA · eyesB
- 4 ABAB hasA · oldB · wasA · boldB
- 5 ABAB nameA · foundB · sameA · crown'dB
- 6 A-A- reconciledA · nassau · mildA · law
- 7 ABAB alliedA · tooB · tiedA · undoB
- 8 ABAB placeA · runB · graceA · oneB
- 9 ABAB owesA · allB · bestowsA · wallB
- 10 -A-A had · woodA · made · stoodA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As once the lion honey gave, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Out of the strong such sweetness came; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A royal hero, no less brave, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Produced this sweet, this lovely dame. | 9 | ˘/˘···/˘· |
| To her the prince, that did oppose | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Such mighty armies in the field, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And Holland from prevailing foes | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Could so well free, himself does yield. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Not Belgia's fleet (his high command) | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which triumphs where the sun does rise, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor all the force he leads by land, | 8 | ········ |
| Could guard him from her conqu'ring eyes. | 9 | ········· |
| Orange, with youth, experience has; | 9 | /˘··˘/˘˘· |
| In action young, in council old; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Orange is, what Augustus was, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Brave, wary, provident, and bold. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| On that fair tree which bears his name, | 8 | ········ |
| Blossoms and fruit at once are found; | 8 | /˘······ |
| In him we all admire the same, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| His flow'ry youth with wisdom crown'd! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Empire and freedom reconciled | 10 | /˘˘·/˘/˘·˘ |
| In Holland are by great Nassau; | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Like those he sprung from, just and mild, | 8 | ········ |
| To willing people he gives law. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thrice happy pair! so near allied | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| In royal blood, and virtue too! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Now love has you together tied, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| May none this triple knot undo! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The church shall be the happy place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where streams, which from the same source run, | 8 | ········ |
| Though divers lands a while they grace, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Unite again, and are made one. | 8 | /·˘/···· |
| A thousand thanks the nation owes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To him that does protect us all; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| For while he thus his niece bestows, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| About our isle he builds a wall; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| A wall! like that which Athens had, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By th'oracle's advice, of wood; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Had theirs been such as Charles has made, | 8 | ········ |
| That mighty state till now had stood. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Princess of Orange': The Princess Mary was married to the Prince of | 17 | /˘·/˘·/˘/˘·/˘···· |
| Orange at St. James's, in November 1677. | 10 | /˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
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