The Miser's Speech. In a Masque
Balls of this metal slack'd At'lanta's pace,And on the am'rous youth bestow'd the race;Venus (the nymph's mind measuring by her own),Whom the rich spoils of cities overthrownHad prostrated to Mars, could well adviseTh' advent'rous lover how to gain the prize.Nor less may Jupiter to gold ascribe;For, when he turn'd himself into a bribe,Who can blame Danaë, or the brazen tower,That they withstood not that almighty showerNever till then did love make Jove put onA form more bright, and nobler than his own;Nor were it just, would he resume that shape,That slack devotion should his thunder 'scape.'Twas not revenge for griev'd Apollo's wrong,Those ass's ears on Midas' temples hung,But fond repentance of his happy wish,Because his meat grew metal like his dish.Would Bacchus bless me so, I'd constant holdUnto my wish, and die creating gold.
'Am'rous youth': Hippomenes.Transcriber's note: The original text has a single dot over thesecond "a" and another over the "e", rather than the moreconventional diaresis shown here.
Words in this poem
- bribe n.
- A gift begged; a present. [F. bribe a lump of bread, scraps, leavings of meals (that are generally given to a beggar), LL. briba scrap of bread; cf. OF. briber, brifer, to eat gluttonousl]
- 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.]
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Miser's Speech. In a Masque 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 Miser's Speech. In a Masque, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/the-miser-s-speech-in-a-masque.html, id L09053.
Form and metre
The Miser's Speech. In a Masque is 24 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 AABBCCDDEE-BFF--GGHH paceA · raceA · ownB · overthrownB · adviseC · prizeC · ascribeD · bribeD · towerE · showerE · on · ownB · shapeF · scapeF · wrong · hung · wishG · dishG · holdH · goldH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Balls of this metal slack'd At'lanta's pace, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| And on the am'rous youth bestow'd the race; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Venus (the nymph's mind measuring by her own), | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Whom the rich spoils of cities overthrown | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Had prostrated to Mars, could well advise | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| Th' advent'rous lover how to gain the prize. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Nor less may Jupiter to gold ascribe; | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| For, when he turn'd himself into a bribe, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Who can blame Danaë, or the brazen tower, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| That they withstood not that almighty shower | 11 | ··˘/··˘/˘/˘ |
| Never till then did love make Jove put on | 10 | /˘········ |
| A form more bright, and nobler than his own; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor were it just, would he resume that shape, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| That slack devotion should his thunder 'scape. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| 'Twas not revenge for griev'd Apollo's wrong, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Those ass's ears on Midas' temples hung, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| But fond repentance of his happy wish, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Because his meat grew metal like his dish. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Would Bacchus bless me so, I'd constant hold | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Unto my wish, and die creating gold. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| 'Am'rous youth': Hippomenes. | 6 | ······ |
| Transcriber's note: The original text has a single dot over the | 15 | ˘/··˘/˘···/˘··· |
| second "a" and another over the "e", rather than the more | 15 | /˘··˘/˘···/˘··· |
| conventional diaresis shown here. | 9 | ˘/˘˘····· |
Notes from the edition 2
George Gilfillan's notes to the Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham (1857; Project Gutenberg #12322).
- Stanza 1, line 2 'Am'rous youth': Hippomenes.
- Stanza 1, line 9 Transcriber's note: The original text has a single dot over the second "a" and another over the "e", rather than the more conventional diaresis shown here.
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