Of the Marriage of the Dwarfs
Design, or chance, makes others wive;But Nature did this match contrive;Eve might as well have Adam fled,As she denied her little bedTo him, for whom Heaven seemed to frame,And measure out, this only dame.
Thrice happy is that humble pair,Beneath the level of all care!Over whose heads those arrows flyOf sad distrust and jealousy;Secured in as high extreme,As if the world held none but them.
To him the fairest nymphs do showLike moving mountains, topp'd with snow;And every man a PolyphemeDoes to his Galatea seem;None may presume her faith to prove;He proffers death that proffers love.
Ah, Chloris! that kind Nature thusFrom all the world had severed us;Creating for ourselves us two,As love has me for only you!
'Dwarfs': Gibson and Shepherd, each three feet ten inches in height.They were pages at Court, and Charles I. gave away the femaleinfinitesimal.
Words in this poem
- wive v. i.
- To marry, as a man; to take a wife. [AS. wifian, gewifian. See Wite.]
- 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]
- galatea n.
- A kind of striped cotton fabric, usually of superior quality and striped with blue or red on white.
- presume v. t.
- To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere to take. See Assume, Redeem.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Of the Marriage of the Dwarfs 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 Marriage of the Dwarfs, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/of-the-marriage-of-the-dwarfs.html, id L09042.
Form and metre
Of the Marriage of the Dwarfs is 25 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 72% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 --AABB wive · contrive · fledA · bedA · frameB · dameB
- 2 AA---- pairA · careA · fly · jealousy · extreme · them
- 3 AABBCC showA · snowA · polyphemeB · seemB · proveC · loveC
- 4 AABB thusA · usA · twoB · youB
- 5 -AA height · femaleA · infinitesimalA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Design, or chance, makes others wive; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| But Nature did this match contrive; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Eve might as well have Adam fled, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As she denied her little bed | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| To him, for whom Heaven seemed to frame, | 10 | ····/˘·˘·· |
| And measure out, this only dame. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thrice happy is that humble pair, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beneath the level of all care! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Over whose heads those arrows fly | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of sad distrust and jealousy; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| Secured in as high extreme, | 7 | ˘/···˘/ |
| As if the world held none but them. | 8 | ········ |
| To him the fairest nymphs do show | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like moving mountains, topp'd with snow; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And every man a Polypheme | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Does to his Galatea seem; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| None may presume her faith to prove; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He proffers death that proffers love. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ah, Chloris! that kind Nature thus | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From all the world had severed us; | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Creating for ourselves us two, | 9 | ˘/˘·˘˘/·· |
| As love has me for only you! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Dwarfs': Gibson and Shepherd, each three feet ten inches in height. | 14 | ·/˘·/˘····/˘·· |
| They were pages at Court, and Charles I. gave away the female | 15 | ··/˘······˘/·/· |
| infinitesimal. | 6 | ·˘˘/˘˘ |
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.