Thyrsis, Galatea
As lately I on silver Thames did ride,Sad Galatea on the bank I spied;Such was her look as sorrow taught to shine,And thus she graced me with a voice divine.
You that can tune your sounding strings so well,Of ladies' beauties, and of love to tell,Once change your note, and let your lute reportThe justest grief that ever touch'd the Court.
Fair nymph! I have in your delights no share,Nor ought to be concerned in your care;Yet would I sing if I your sorrows knew,And to my aid invoke no Muse but you.
Hear then, and let your song augment our grief,Which is so great as not to wish relief.She that had all which Nature gives, or Chance,Whom Fortune join'd with Virtue to advanceTo all the joys this island could afford,The greatest mistress, and the kindest lord;Who with the royal mix'd her noble blood,And in high grace with Gloriana stood;Her bounty, sweetness, beauty, goodness, such,That none e'er thought her happiness too much;So well-inclined her favours to confer,And kind to all, as Heaven had been to her!The virgin's part, the mother, and the wife,So well she acted in this span of life,That though few years (too flew, alas!) she told,She seem'd in all things, but in beauty, old.As unripe fruit, whose verdant stalks do cleaveClose to the tree, which grieves no less to leaveThe smiling pendant which adorns her so,And until autumn on the bough should grow;So seem'd her youthful soul not eas'ly forced,Or from so fair, so sweet a seat divorced.Her fate at once did hasty seem and slow;At once too cruel, and unwilling too.
Under how hard a law are mortals born!Whom now we envy, we anon must mourn;What Heaven sets highest, and seems most to prize,Is soon removed from our wond'ring eyes!But since the Sisters did so soon untwineSo fair a thread, I'll strive to piece the line.Vouchsafe, sad nymph! to let me know the dame,And to the Muses I'll commend her name;Make the wide country echo to your moan,The list'ning trees and savage mountains groan.What rock's not movèd when the death is sungOf one so good, so lovely, and so young?
'Twas Hamilton!--whom I had named before,But naming her, grief lets me say no more.
'Galatea': the lady here mourned was the Duchess of Hamilton, aniece of Buckingham; she died in 1638.'Gloriana': Queen Henrietta.'Sisters': Parcæ--
Words in this poem
- galatea n.
- A kind of striped cotton fabric, usually of superior quality and striped with blue or red on white.
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- 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.]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- untwine v. t.
- To untwist; to separate, as that which is twined or twisted; to disentangle; to untie. [1st pref. un- + twine.]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- duchess n.
- The wife or widow of a duke; also, a lady who has the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. [F. duchesse, fr. duc duke.]
- niece n.
- A relative, in general; especially, a descendant, whether male or female; a granddaughter or a grandson. B. Jonson. Wyclif. [OE. nece, F. nièce, LL. neptia, for L. neptis a granddaughter, niece, akin to nepos. See Nephew.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thyrsis, Galatea 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, Thyrsis, Galatea, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/thyrsis-galatea.html, id L26310.
Form and metre
Thyrsis, Galatea is 54 lines in 7 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 AABB rideA · spiedA · shineB · divineB
- 2 AABB wellA · tellA · reportB · courtB
- 3 AABB shareA · careA · knewB · youB
- 4 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKJ- griefA · reliefA · chanceB · advanceB · affordC · lordC · bloodD · stoodD · suchE · muchE · conferF · herF · wifeG · lifeG · toldH · oldH · cleaveI · leaveI · soJ · growJ · forcedK · divorcedK · slowJ · too
- 5 AABBCCDDEEFF bornA · mournA · prizeB · eyesB · untwineC · lineC · dameD · nameD · moanE · groanE · sungF · youngF
- 6 AA beforeA · moreA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As lately I on silver Thames did ride, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Sad Galatea on the bank I spied; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Such was her look as sorrow taught to shine, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And thus she graced me with a voice divine. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| You that can tune your sounding strings so well, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of ladies' beauties, and of love to tell, | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Once change your note, and let your lute report | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The justest grief that ever touch'd the Court. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Fair nymph! I have in your delights no share, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Nor ought to be concerned in your care; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Yet would I sing if I your sorrows knew, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And to my aid invoke no Muse but you. | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Hear then, and let your song augment our grief, | 10 | ······˘//· |
| Which is so great as not to wish relief. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| She that had all which Nature gives, or Chance, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Whom Fortune join'd with Virtue to advance | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| To all the joys this island could afford, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The greatest mistress, and the kindest lord; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Who with the royal mix'd her noble blood, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And in high grace with Gloriana stood; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Her bounty, sweetness, beauty, goodness, such, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| That none e'er thought her happiness too much; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| So well-inclined her favours to confer, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And kind to all, as Heaven had been to her! | 10 | ·····/···· |
| The virgin's part, the mother, and the wife, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| So well she acted in this span of life, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That though few years (too flew, alas!) she told, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| She seem'd in all things, but in beauty, old. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As unripe fruit, whose verdant stalks do cleave | 10 | ·˘/··/˘··· |
| Close to the tree, which grieves no less to leave | 10 | ·········· |
| The smiling pendant which adorns her so, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And until autumn on the bough should grow; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| So seem'd her youthful soul not eas'ly forced, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or from so fair, so sweet a seat divorced. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Her fate at once did hasty seem and slow; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| At once too cruel, and unwilling too. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Under how hard a law are mortals born! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whom now we envy, we anon must mourn; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| What Heaven sets highest, and seems most to prize, | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Is soon removed from our wond'ring eyes! | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| But since the Sisters did so soon untwine | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| So fair a thread, I'll strive to piece the line. | 10 | ·········· |
| Vouchsafe, sad nymph! to let me know the dame, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| And to the Muses I'll commend her name; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Make the wide country echo to your moan, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The list'ning trees and savage mountains groan. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| What rock's not movèd when the death is sung | 9 | ········· |
| Of one so good, so lovely, and so young? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| 'Twas Hamilton!--whom I had named before, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| But naming her, grief lets me say no more. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| 'Galatea': the lady here mourned was the Duchess of Hamilton, a | 17 | ·˘/˘·/˘····/˘·/˘· |
| niece of Buckingham; she died in 1638. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| 'Gloriana': Queen Henrietta. | 9 | ·˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| 'Sisters': Parcæ-- | 3 | /˘· |
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 4, line 8 'Gloriana': Queen Henrietta.
- Stanza 5, line 5 'Sisters': Parcæ--
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