Laurel · Edmund Waller · Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems

On My Lord Croft's and My Journey into Poland, from Whence We Brought £10,000 for His Majesty, by the Decimation of His Scottish Subjects There

Edmund Waller (1606–1687) · 1645–1668

iambic trimeter · rhyming couplets · 67 lines · from Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems

Toll, toll,Gentle bell, for the soulOf the pure ones in Pole,Which are damn'd in our scroll.

Who having felt a touchOf Cockram's greedy clutch,Which though it was not much,Yet their stubbornness was such,

That when we did arrive,'Gainst the stream we did strive;They would neither lead nor drive;

Nor lendAn ear to a friend,Nor an answer would sendTo our letter so well penn'd;

Nor assist our affairsWith their moneys nor their wares,As their answer now declares,But only with their prayers.

Thus they did persistDid and said what they list,'Till the Diet was dismiss'd;But then our breech they kiss'd.

For whenIt was moved there and then,They should pay one in ten,The Diet said, Amen.

And because they are bothTo discover the troth,They must give word and oath,Though they will forfeit both.

Thus the constitutionCondemns them every one,From the father to the son.

But John(Our friend) MollessonThought us to have outgoneWith a quaint invention.

Like the prophets of yore,He complain'd long before,Of the mischiefs in store,Ay, and thrice as much more;

And with that wicked lie,A letter they came byFrom our King's majesty.

But fateBrought the letter too late,'Twas of too old a dateTo relieve their damn'd state.

The letter's to be seen,With seal of wax so green,At Dantzig, where 't has beenTurn'd into good Latin.

But he that gave the hint,This letter for to print,Must also pay his stint.

That trick,Had it come in the nick,Had touch'd us to the quick;But the messenger fell sick.

Had it later been wrote,And sooner been brought,They had got what they sought;But now it serves for nought.

On Sandys they ran aground,And our return was crown'dWith full ten thousand pound.

Words in this poem

amen interj.: An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
discover v. i.: To discover or show one's self.
troth n.: Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
quaint a.: Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
yore adv.: In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
relieve v. t.: To lift up; to raise again, as one who has fallen; to cause to rise. Piers Plowman. [OE. releven, F. relever to raise again, discharge, relieve, fr. L. relevare to lift up, raise, make light, relieve; pref. re- re- + levare to raise, fr. levis l]
nick n.: A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Akin to Nock.]
wrote v. i.: To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

On My Lord Croft's and My Journey into Poland, from Whence We Brought £10,000 for His Majesty, by the Decimation of His Scottish Subjects There 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 My Lord Croft's and My Journey into Poland, from Whence We Brought £10,000 for His Majesty, by the Decimation of His Scottish Subjects There, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/on-my-lord-croft-s-and-my-journey-into-poland-from-whence-we-brought-10-000-for-his-majesty-by-the-decimation-of-his-scottish-subjects-there.html, id L26334.

Form and metre

On My Lord Croft's and My Journey into Poland, from Whence We Brought £10,000 for His Majesty, by the Decimation of His Scottish Subjects There is 67 lines in 18 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 90% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).

See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic trimeter.

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 AAAA toll^A · soul^A · pole^A · scroll^A
2 AAAA touch^A · clutch^A · much^A · such^A
3 AAA arrive^A · strive^A · drive^A
4 AAAA lend^A · friend^A · send^A · penn'd^A
5 AAAA affairs^A · wares^A · declares^A · prayers^A
6 AAAA persist^A · list^A · dismiss'd^A · kiss'd^A
7 AAAA when^A · then^A · ten^A · amen^A
8 AAAA both^A · troth^A · oath^A · both^A
9 AAA constitution^A · one^A · son^A
10 ABBA john^A · mollesson^B · outgone^B · invention^A
11 AAAA yore^A · before^A · store^A · more^A
12 AA- lie^A · by^A · majesty
13 AAAA fate^A · late^A · date^A · state^A
14 AAAA seen^A · green^A · been^A · latin^A
15 AAA hint^A · print^A · stint^A
16 AAAA trick^A · nick^A · quick^A · sick^A
17 AAAA wrote^A · brought^A · sought^A · nought^A
18 AAA aground^A · crown'd^A · pound^A

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Toll, toll,	2	··
Gentle bell, for the soul	6	/˘····
Of the pure ones in Pole,	6	······
Which are damn'd in our scroll.	6	····/·
Who having felt a touch	6	·/˘···
Of Cockram's greedy clutch,	6	···/˘·
Which though it was not much,	6	······
Yet their stubbornness was such,	6	··/˘··
That when we did arrive,	6	····˘/
'Gainst the stream we did strive;	6	······
They would neither lead nor drive;	7	··/˘···
Nor lend	2	··
An ear to a friend,	5	·····
Nor an answer would send	6	··/˘··
To our letter so well penn'd;	7	·//˘···
Nor assist our affairs	6	·˘//˘/
With their moneys nor their wares,	7	··/˘···
As their answer now declares,	7	··/˘·˘/
But only with their prayers.	6	·/˘···
Thus they did persist	5	···˘/
Did and said what they list,	6	······
'Till the Diet was dismiss'd;	7	··/˘·˘/
But then our breech they kiss'd.	6	··/···
For when	2	··
It was moved there and then,	6	······
They should pay one in ten,	6	······
The Diet said, Amen.	6	·/˘·˘/
And because they are both	6	······
To discover the troth,	6	·˘/˘··
They must give word and oath,	6	······
Though they will forfeit both.	6	···/˘·
Thus the constitution	6	···˘/˘
Condemns them every one,	6	˘/·/˘·
From the father to the son.	7	··/˘···
But John	2	··
(Our friend) Mollesson	6	/˘····
Thought us to have outgone	6	······
With a quaint invention.	6	···˘/˘
Like the prophets of yore,	6	··/˘··
He complain'd long before,	6	·˘/···
Of the mischiefs in store,	6	··/˘··
Ay, and thrice as much more;	6	······
And with that wicked lie,	6	···/˘·
A letter they came by	6	·/˘···
From our King's majesty.	7	·/˘·/˘˘
But fate	2	··
Brought the letter too late,	6	··/˘··
'Twas of too old a date	6	······
To relieve their damn'd state.	6	·˘/···
The letter's to be seen,	6	·/˘···
With seal of wax so green,	6	······
At Dantzig, where 't has been	7	·······
Turn'd into good Latin.	6	····/˘
But he that gave the hint,	6	······
This letter for to print,	6	·/˘···
Must also pay his stint.	6	·/˘···
That trick,	2	··
Had it come in the nick,	6	······
Had touch'd us to the quick;	6	······
But the messenger fell sick.	6	··/˘··
Had it later been wrote,	6	··/˘··
And sooner been brought,	5	·/˘··
They had got what they sought;	6	······
But now it serves for nought.	6	······
On Sandys they ran aground,	7	·/˘··˘/
And our return was crown'd	6	·/˘/··
With full ten thousand pound.	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.

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