The Apology of Sleep, for Not Approaching the Lady Who Can Do Anything But Sleep When She Pleases
My charge it is those breaches to repairWhich Nature takes from sorrow, toil, and care;Rest to the limbs, and quiet I conferOn troubled minds; but nought can add to herWhom Heaven, and her transcendent thoughts have placedAbove those ills which wretched mortals taste.
Bright as the deathless gods, and happy, sheFrom all that may infringe delight is free;Love at her royal feet his quiver lays,And not his mother with more haste obeys.Such real pleasures, such true joys' suspense,What dream can I present to recompense?
Should I with lightning fill her awful hand,And make the clouds seem all at her command;Or place her in Olympus' top, a guestAmong the immortals, who with nectar feast;That power would seem, that entertainment, shortOf the true splendour of her present Court,
Where all the joys, and all the glories, areOf three great kingdoms, sever'd from the care.I, that of fumes and humid vapours made,Ascending, do the seat of sense invade,No cloud in so serene a mansion find,To overcast her ever-shining mind,
Which holds resemblance with those spotless skies,Where flowing Nilus want of rain supplies;That crystal heaven, where Phoebus never shroudsHis golden beams, nor wraps his face in clouds.But what so hard which numbers cannot force?So stoops the moon, and rivers change their course.
The bold Mæonian made me dare to steepJove's dreadful temples in the dew of sleep;And since the Muses do invoke my power,I shall no more decline that sacred bowerWhere Gloriana their great mistress lies;But, gently taming those victorious eyes,
Charm all her senses, till the joyful sunWithout a rival half his course has run;Who, while my hand that fairer light confines,May boast himself the brightest thing that shines.
Words in this poem
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- infringe v. t.
- To break; to violate; to transgress; to neglect to fulfill or obey; as, to infringe a law or contract. [L. infringere; pref. in- in + frangere to break. See Fraction, and cf. Infract .]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- overcast v. t.
- To cast or cover over; hence, to cloud; to darken.
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Apology of Sleep, for Not Approaching the Lady Who Can Do Anything But Sleep When She Pleases 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, The Apology of Sleep, for Not Approaching the Lady Who Can Do Anything But Sleep When She Pleases, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/the-apology-of-sleep-for-not-approaching-the-lady-who-can-do-anything-but-sleep-when-she-pleases.html, id L26311.
Form and metre
The Apology of Sleep, for Not Approaching the Lady Who Can Do Anything But Sleep When She Pleases is 40 lines in 7 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See 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 AABBCC repairA · careA · conferB · herB · placedC · tasteC
- 2 AABBCC sheA · freeA · laysB · obeysB · suspenseC · recompenseC
- 3 AABBCC handA · commandA · guestB · feastB · shortC · courtC
- 4 AABBCC areA · careA · madeB · invadeB · findC · mindC
- 5 AABBCC skiesA · suppliesA · shroudsB · cloudsB · forceC · courseC
- 6 AABBCC steepA · sleepA · powerB · bowerB · liesC · eyesC
- 7 AABB sunA · runA · confinesB · shinesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My charge it is those breaches to repair | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Which Nature takes from sorrow, toil, and care; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Rest to the limbs, and quiet I confer | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| On troubled minds; but nought can add to her | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Whom Heaven, and her transcendent thoughts have placed | 10 | ·/··˘/˘··· |
| Above those ills which wretched mortals taste. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Bright as the deathless gods, and happy, she | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| From all that may infringe delight is free; | 10 | ····˘/˘/·· |
| Love at her royal feet his quiver lays, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And not his mother with more haste obeys. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Such real pleasures, such true joys' suspense, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| What dream can I present to recompense? | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Should I with lightning fill her awful hand, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And make the clouds seem all at her command; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Or place her in Olympus' top, a guest | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Among the immortals, who with nectar feast; | 11 | ···˘/˘··/˘· |
| That power would seem, that entertainment, short | 10 | ·/····˘/˘· |
| Of the true splendour of her present Court, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Where all the joys, and all the glories, are | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of three great kingdoms, sever'd from the care. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I, that of fumes and humid vapours made, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Ascending, do the seat of sense invade, | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| No cloud in so serene a mansion find, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| To overcast her ever-shining mind, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Which holds resemblance with those spotless skies, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Where flowing Nilus want of rain supplies; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| That crystal heaven, where Phoebus never shrouds | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘/˘· |
| His golden beams, nor wraps his face in clouds. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But what so hard which numbers cannot force? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| So stoops the moon, and rivers change their course. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The bold Mæonian made me dare to steep | 9 | ········· |
| Jove's dreadful temples in the dew of sleep; | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And since the Muses do invoke my power, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| I shall no more decline that sacred bower | 11 | ····˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Where Gloriana their great mistress lies; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| But, gently taming those victorious eyes, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Charm all her senses, till the joyful sun | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Without a rival half his course has run; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who, while my hand that fairer light confines, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| May boast himself the brightest thing that shines. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
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 6, line 1 'Mæonian': Homer.
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