On Mr Thomas Killigrew's Return from Venice, and Mr William Murrey's from Scotland
Our resident Tom,From Venice is come,And hath left the statesman behind him;Talks at the same pitch,Is as wise, is as rich;And just where you left him, you find him.
But who says he was notA man of much plot,May repent that false accusation;Having plotted and penn'dSix plays, to attendThe farce of his negotiation.
Before you were toldHow Satan the oldCame here with a beard to his middle;Though he changed face and name,Old Will was the same,At the noise of a can and a fiddle.
These statesmen, you believe,Send straight for the shrieve,For he is one too, or would be;But he drinks no wine,Which is a shrewd signThat all's not so well as it should be.
These three, when they drink,How little do they thinkOf banishment, debts, or dying?Not old with their years,Nor cold with their fears;But their angry stars still defying.
Mirth makes them not mad,Nor sobriety sad;But of that they are seldom in danger;At Paris, at Rome,At the Hague, they're at home;The good fellow is no where a stranger.
'Satan': Mr. W. Murrey.
Words in this poem
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- shrieve v. t.
- To shrive; to question.
- shrewd a.
- Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious; rough; unfair; shrewish. [Originally the p. p. of shrew, v.t.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- sobriety n.
- Habitual soberness or temperance as to the use of spirituous liquors; as, a man of sobriety. [L. sobrietas: cf. F. sobriété. See Sober.]
- murrey n.
- A dark red color. [OF. morée a dark red color, mor blackish brown, fr. L. morum mulberry, blackberry, or fr. Maurus a Moor. Cf. Mulberry, Moor, Morelle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Mr Thomas Killigrew's Return from Venice, and Mr William Murrey's from Scotland 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, On Mr Thomas Killigrew's Return from Venice, and Mr William Murrey's from Scotland, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/on-mr-thomas-killigrew-s-return-from-venice-and-mr-william-murrey-s-from-scotland.html, id L26335.
Form and metre
On Mr Thomas Killigrew's Return from Venice, and Mr William Murrey's from Scotland is 37 lines in 7 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 AABCCB tomA · comeA · himB · pitchC · richC · himB
- 2 AABCCB notA · plotA · accusationB · penn'dC · attendC · negotiationB
- 3 AABCCB toldA · oldA · middleB · nameC · sameC · fiddleB
- 4 AABCCB believeA · shrieveA · beB · wineC · signC · beB
- 5 AABCCB drinkA · thinkA · dyingB · yearsC · fearsC · defyingB
- 6 AABCCB madA · sadA · dangerB · romeC · homeC · strangerB
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Our resident Tom, | 5 | //˘˘· |
| From Venice is come, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And hath left the statesman behind him; | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Talks at the same pitch, | 5 | ····· |
| Is as wise, is as rich; | 6 | ······ |
| And just where you left him, you find him. | 9 | ········· |
| But who says he was not | 6 | ······ |
| A man of much plot, | 5 | ····· |
| May repent that false accusation; | 9 | ·˘/···˘/˘ |
| Having plotted and penn'd | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| Six plays, to attend | 5 | ···˘/ |
| The farce of his negotiation. | 9 | ····˘·˘/˘ |
| Before you were told | 5 | ····· |
| How Satan the old | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Came here with a beard to his middle; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Though he changed face and name, | 6 | ······ |
| Old Will was the same, | 5 | ····· |
| At the noise of a can and a fiddle. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| These statesmen, you believe, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Send straight for the shrieve, | 5 | ····· |
| For he is one too, or would be; | 8 | ········ |
| But he drinks no wine, | 5 | ····· |
| Which is a shrewd sign | 5 | ····· |
| That all's not so well as it should be. | 9 | ········· |
| These three, when they drink, | 5 | ····· |
| How little do they think | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of banishment, debts, or dying? | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Not old with their years, | 5 | ····· |
| Nor cold with their fears; | 5 | ····· |
| But their angry stars still defying. | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| Mirth makes them not mad, | 5 | ····· |
| Nor sobriety sad; | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| But of that they are seldom in danger; | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| At Paris, at Rome, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| At the Hague, they're at home; | 6 | ······ |
| The good fellow is no where a stranger. | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| 'Satan': Mr. W. Murrey. | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
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 3, line 2 'Satan': Mr. W. Murrey.
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