The Story of Phoebus and Daphne, Applied
Thyrsis, a youth of the inspirèd train,Fair Saccharissa loved, but loved in vain;Like Phoebus sung the no less am'rous boy;Like Daphne she, as lovely, and as coy!With numbers he the flying nymph pursues,With numbers such as Phoebus' self might use!Such is the chase when Love and Fancy leads,O'er craggy mountains, and through flow'ry meads;Invoked to testify the lover's care,Or form some image of his cruel fair.Urged with his fury, like a wounded deer,O'er these he fled; and now approaching near,Had reach'd the nymph with his harmonious lay,Whom all his charms could not incline to stay.Yet what he sung in his immortal strain,Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain;All, but the nymph that should redress his wrong,Attend his passion, and approve his song.Like Phoebus thus, acquiring unsought praise,He catch'd at love, and fill'd his arms with bays.
Words in this poem
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- daphne n.
- A genus of diminutive Shrubs, mostly evergreen, and with fragrant blossoms. [L., a laurel tree, from Gr. .]
- testify v. i.
- To make a solemn declaration, verbal or written, to establish some fact; to give testimony for the purpose of communicating to others a knowledge of something not known to them. [OF. testifier, L. testificari; testis a witness + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy, and cf. Attest, Contest, Detest, Protest, Testament.]
- unsuccessful a.
- Not successful; not producing the desired event; not fortunate; meeting with, or resulting in, failure; unlucky; unhappy.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Story of Phoebus and Daphne, Applied 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 Story of Phoebus and Daphne, Applied, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/the-story-of-phoebus-and-daphne-applied.html, id L09028.
Form and metre
The Story of Phoebus and Daphne, Applied is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGAAHHII trainA · vainA · boyB · coyB · pursuesC · useC · leadsD · meadsD · careE · fairE · deerF · nearF · layG · stayG · strainA · vainA · wrongH · songH · praiseI · baysI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thyrsis, a youth of the inspirèd train, | 9 | ········· |
| Fair Saccharissa loved, but loved in vain; | 10 | ·········· |
| Like Phoebus sung the no less am'rous boy; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Like Daphne she, as lovely, and as coy! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| With numbers he the flying nymph pursues, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| With numbers such as Phoebus' self might use! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Such is the chase when Love and Fancy leads, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O'er craggy mountains, and through flow'ry meads; | 12 | ·/˘/˘······· |
| Invoked to testify the lover's care, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Or form some image of his cruel fair. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Urged with his fury, like a wounded deer, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O'er these he fled; and now approaching near, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Had reach'd the nymph with his harmonious lay, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Whom all his charms could not incline to stay. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Yet what he sung in his immortal strain, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| All, but the nymph that should redress his wrong, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Attend his passion, and approve his song. | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/·· |
| Like Phoebus thus, acquiring unsought praise, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| He catch'd at love, and fill'd his arms with bays. | 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).
- Line 20 'Daphne': Ovid's Metamorphoses, b. i.
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