The Country to My Lady Carlisle
Madam, of all the sacred Muse inspired,Orpheus alone could with the woods comply;Their rude inhabitants his song admired,And Nature's self, in those that could not lie:Your beauty next our solitude invades,And warms us, shining through the thickest shades.
Nor ought the tribute, which the wond'ring CourtPays your fair eyes, prevail with you to scornThe answer and consent to that reportWhich, echo-like, the country does return:Mirrors are taught to flatter, but our springsPresent th'impartial images of things.
A rural judge disposed of beauty's prize;A simple shepherd was preferr'd to Jove;Down to the mountains from the partial skies,Came Juno, Pallas, and the Queen of Love,To plead for that which was so justly givenTo the bright Carlisle of the court of heaven.
Carlisle! a name which all our woods are taught,Loud as their Amaryllis, to resound;Carlisle! a name which on the bark is wroughtOf every tree that's worthy of the wound.From Phoebus' rage our shadows and our streamsMay guard us better than from Carlisle's beams.
'Lady Carlisle': the Lady Lucy Percy, daughter of the Earl ofNorthumberland, married against her father's wishes to the Earl ofCarlisle. She was a wit and intriguante.
Words in this poem
- orpheus n.
- The famous mythic Thracian poet, son of the Muse Calliope, and husband of Eurydice. He is reputed to have had power to entrance beasts and inanimate objects by the music of his lyre.
- admired a.
- Regarded with wonder and delight; highly prized; as, an admired poem.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
- amaryllis n.
- A pastoral sweetheart.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Country to My Lady Carlisle 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 Country to My Lady Carlisle, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/the-country-to-my-lady-carlisle.html, id L09075.
Form and metre
The Country to My Lady Carlisle is 27 lines in 5 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCC inspiredA · complyB · admiredA · lieB · invadesC · shadesC
- 2 A-A-BB courtA · scorn · reportA · return · springsB · thingsB
- 3 A-A--- prizeA · jove · skiesA · love · given · heaven
- 4 ABABCC taughtA · resoundB · wroughtA · woundB · streamsC · beamsC
- 5 AA- ofA · ofA · intriguante
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Madam, of all the sacred Muse inspired, | 11 | /˘···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Orpheus alone could with the woods comply; | 10 | /˘˘/····˘/ |
| Their rude inhabitants his song admired, | 11 | ··˘/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| And Nature's self, in those that could not lie: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Your beauty next our solitude invades, | 10 | ·/˘·//˘·˘/ |
| And warms us, shining through the thickest shades. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Nor ought the tribute, which the wond'ring Court | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Pays your fair eyes, prevail with you to scorn | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| The answer and consent to that report | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| Which, echo-like, the country does return: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Mirrors are taught to flatter, but our springs | 10 | /˘···/˘·/· |
| Present th'impartial images of things. | 10 | ˘/···/˘˘·· |
| A rural judge disposed of beauty's prize; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| A simple shepherd was preferr'd to Jove; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Down to the mountains from the partial skies, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Came Juno, Pallas, and the Queen of Love, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To plead for that which was so justly given | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| To the bright Carlisle of the court of heaven. | 11 | ···/·····/˘ |
| Carlisle! a name which all our woods are taught, | 10 | /·····/··· |
| Loud as their Amaryllis, to resound; | 10 | ····˘/˘··/ |
| Carlisle! a name which on the bark is wrought | 10 | /········· |
| Of every tree that's worthy of the wound. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| From Phoebus' rage our shadows and our streams | 10 | ·/˘·//··/· |
| May guard us better than from Carlisle's beams. | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| 'Lady Carlisle': the Lady Lucy Percy, daughter of the Earl of | 17 | /˘/··/˘/˘/˘/˘···· |
| Northumberland, married against her father's wishes to the Earl of | 17 | ····/˘···/˘/˘···· |
| Carlisle. She was a wit and intriguante. | 10 | /········· |
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