On the Taking of Sallè
Of Jason, Theseus, and such worthies old,Light seem the tales antiquity has told;Such beasts and monsters as their force oppress'd,Some places only, and some times, infest.Sallè, that scorn'd all power and laws of men,Goods with their owners hurrying to their den,And future ages threat'ning with a rudeAnd savage race, successively renew'd;Their king despising with rebellious pride,And foes profess'd to all the world beside;This pest of mankind gives our hero fame,And through the obliged world dilates his name.The prophet once to cruel Agag said,'As thy fierce sword has mothers childless made,So shall the sword make thine;' and with that wordHe hew'd the man in pieces with his sword.
Just Charles like measure has return'd to theseWhose Pagan hands had stain'd the troubled seas;With ships they made the spoiled merchant mourn;With ships their city and themselves are torn.One squadron of our winged castles sent,O'erthrew their fort, and all their navy rent;For, not content the dangers to increase,And act the part of tempests in the seas,Like hungry wolves, those pirates from our shoreWhole flocks of sheep, and ravish'd cattle bore.Safely they might on other nations prey--Fools to provoke the sovereign of the sea!Mad Cacus so, whom like ill fate persuades,The herd of fair Alcmena's seed invades,Who for revenge, and mortals' glad relief,Sack'd the dark cave and crush'd that horrid thief.
Morocco's monarch, wond'ring at this fact,Save that his presence his affairs exact,Had come in person to have seen and knownThe injured world's revenger and his own.Hither he sends the chief among his peers,Who in his bark proportion'd presents bears,To the renown'd for piety and force,Poor captives manumised, and matchless horse.
'Sallè': Sallè, a town of Fez, given to piracy, was taken anddestroyed in 1632 by the army of the Emperor of Morocco, assisted bysome English vessels.'Horse': the Emperor of Morocco, in gratitude to Charles, sent him apresent of Barbary horses, and three hundred manumitted Christianslaves.--
Words in this poem
- sall n.
- An East Indian timber tree (Shorea robusta), much used for building purposes. It is of a light brown color, close-grained, and durable. [Hind. s\'bel, Skr. ç\'bela.]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
- pest n.
- A fatal epidemic disease; a pestilence; specif., the plague. [L. pestis: cf. F. peste.]
- 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,]
- squadron n.
- Primarily, a square; hence, a square body of troops; a body of troops drawn up in a square. [F. escadron, formerly also esquadron, or It. squadrone. See Squad.]
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- revenger n.
- One who revenges.
- piracy n.
- The act or crime of a pirate. [Cf. LL. piratia, Gr. Pirate.]
- morocco n.
- A fine kind of leather, prepared commonly from goatskin (though an inferior kind is made of sheepskin), and tanned with sumac and dyed of various colors; -- said to have been first made by the Moors. [Named from Morocco, the country. Cf. Morris the dance.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Taking of Sallè 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 the Taking of Sallè, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/on-the-taking-of-sall.html, id L09018.
Form and metre
On the Taking of Sallè is 46 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH oldA · toldA · oppress'dB · infestB · menC · denC · rudeD · renew'dD · prideE · besideE · fameF · nameF · saidG · madeG · wordH · swordH
- 2 AABBCC-ADD--EEFF theseA · seasA · mournB · tornB · sentC · rentC · increase · seasA · shoreD · boreD · prey · sea · persuadesE · invadesE · reliefF · thiefF
- 3 AABB--CC factA · exactA · knownB · ownB · peers · bears · forceC · horseC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Of Jason, Theseus, and such worthies old, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Light seem the tales antiquity has told; | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Such beasts and monsters as their force oppress'd, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Some places only, and some times, infest. | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Sallè, that scorn'd all power and laws of men, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Goods with their owners hurrying to their den, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And future ages threat'ning with a rude | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And savage race, successively renew'd; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Their king despising with rebellious pride, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And foes profess'd to all the world beside; | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| This pest of mankind gives our hero fame, | 10 | ···//·//˘· |
| And through the obliged world dilates his name. | 10 | ···˘/·˘/·· |
| The prophet once to cruel Agag said, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| 'As thy fierce sword has mothers childless made, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| So shall the sword make thine;' and with that word | 10 | ·········· |
| He hew'd the man in pieces with his sword. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Just Charles like measure has return'd to these | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Whose Pagan hands had stain'd the troubled seas; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| With ships they made the spoiled merchant mourn; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| With ships their city and themselves are torn. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| One squadron of our winged castles sent, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| O'erthrew their fort, and all their navy rent; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For, not content the dangers to increase, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And act the part of tempests in the seas, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Like hungry wolves, those pirates from our shore | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/· |
| Whole flocks of sheep, and ravish'd cattle bore. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Safely they might on other nations prey-- | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Fools to provoke the sovereign of the sea! | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Mad Cacus so, whom like ill fate persuades, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The herd of fair Alcmena's seed invades, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Who for revenge, and mortals' glad relief, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Sack'd the dark cave and crush'd that horrid thief. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Morocco's monarch, wond'ring at this fact, | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Save that his presence his affairs exact, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Had come in person to have seen and known | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The injured world's revenger and his own. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Hither he sends the chief among his peers, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Who in his bark proportion'd presents bears, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| To the renown'd for piety and force, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Poor captives manumised, and matchless horse. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| 'Sallè': Sallè, a town of Fez, given to piracy, was taken and | 14 | ······/·/˘·/˘· |
| destroyed in 1632 by the army of the Emperor of Morocco, assisted by | 19 | ˘/···/˘··/˘·˘/˘˘/˘· |
| some English vessels. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| 'Horse': the Emperor of Morocco, in gratitude to Charles, sent him a | 17 | ··/˘·˘/˘·/˘······ |
| present of Barbary horses, and three hundred manumitted Christian | 17 | ˘/·/˘/˘··/˘····/˘ |
| slaves.-- | 1 | · |
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 8 'Horse': the Emperor of Morocco, in gratitude to Charles, sent him a present of Barbary horses, and three hundred manumitted Christian slaves.--
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