These Verses Were Writ in the Tasso of Her Royal Highness
Tasso knew how the fairer sex to grace,But in no one durst all perfection place.In her alone that owns this book is seenClorinda's spirit, and her lofty mien,Sophronia's piety, Erminia's truth,Armida's charms, her beauty, and her youth.
Our Princess here, as in a glass, does dressHer well-taught mind, and every grace express.More to our wonder than Rinaldo fought,The hero's race excels the poet's thought.
Words in this poem
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
These Verses Were Writ in the Tasso of Her Royal Highness 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, These Verses Were Writ in the Tasso of Her Royal Highness, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/these-verses-were-writ-in-the-tasso-of-her-royal-highness.html, id L09064.
Form and metre
These Verses Were Writ in the Tasso of Her Royal Highness is 10 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 20% 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 AABBCC graceA · placeA · seenB · mienB · truthC · youthC
- 2 AABB dressA · expressA · foughtB · thoughtB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tasso knew how the fairer sex to grace, | 10 | /····/˘··· |
| But in no one durst all perfection place. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| In her alone that owns this book is seen | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Clorinda's spirit, and her lofty mien, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Sophronia's piety, Erminia's truth, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Armida's charms, her beauty, and her youth. | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Our Princess here, as in a glass, does dress | 10 | //˘······· |
| Her well-taught mind, and every grace express. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| More to our wonder than Rinaldo fought, | 10 | ··//˘·˘/˘· |
| The hero's race excels the poet's thought. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
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.