Song
Say, lovely dream! where couldst thou findShades to counterfeit that face?Colours of this glorious kindCome not from any mortal place.
In heaven itself thou sure wert dress'dWith that angel-like disguise:Thus deluded am I bless'd,And see my joy with closèd eyes.
But, ah! this image is too kindTo be other than a dream;Cruel Saccharissa's mindNever put on that sweet extreme!
Fair dream! if thou intend'st me grace,Change that heavenly face of thine;Paint despised love in thy face,And make it to appear like mine.
Pale, wan, and meagre let it look,With a pity-moving shape,Such as wander by the brookOf Lethe, or from graves escape.
Then to that matchless nymph appear,In whose shape thou shinest so;Softly in her sleeping ear,With humble words, express my woe.
Perhaps from greatness, state, and pride,Thus surprisèd she may fall;Sleep does disproportion hide,And, death resembling, equals all.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- meagre a.
- Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. Emaciate, Maigre.]
- lethe n.
- A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song 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, Song, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/song.html, id L09113.
Form and metre
Song is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 21% 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 findA · faceB · kindA · placeB
- 2 ABAB dress'dA · disguiseB · bless'dA · eyesB
- 3 ABAB kindA · dreamB · mindA · extremeB
- 4 ABAB graceA · thineB · faceA · mineB
- 5 ABAB lookA · shapeB · brookA · escapeB
- 6 ABAB appearA · soB · earA · woeB
- 7 ABAB prideA · fallB · hideA · allB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Say, lovely dream! where couldst thou find | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shades to counterfeit that face? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Colours of this glorious kind | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Come not from any mortal place. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In heaven itself thou sure wert dress'd | 9 | ·/˘˘/···· |
| With that angel-like disguise: | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Thus deluded am I bless'd, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| And see my joy with closèd eyes. | 7 | ······· |
| But, ah! this image is too kind | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To be other than a dream; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Cruel Saccharissa's mind | 7 | /˘····· |
| Never put on that sweet extreme! | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Fair dream! if thou intend'st me grace, | 8 | ········ |
| Change that heavenly face of thine; | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Paint despised love in thy face, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| And make it to appear like mine. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Pale, wan, and meagre let it look, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With a pity-moving shape, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Such as wander by the brook | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of Lethe, or from graves escape. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Then to that matchless nymph appear, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In whose shape thou shinest so; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Softly in her sleeping ear, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| With humble words, express my woe. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Perhaps from greatness, state, and pride, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Thus surprisèd she may fall; | 6 | ······ |
| Sleep does disproportion hide, | 7 | ······· |
| And, death resembling, equals all. | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘· |
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.