To a Lady, from Whom He Received a Silver Pen
Madam! intending to have triedThe silver favour which you gave,In ink the shining point I dyed,And drench'd it in the sable wave;When, grieved to be so foully stain'd,On you it thus to me complain'd.
'Suppose you had deserved to takeFrom her fair hand so fair a boon,Yet how deservèd I to makeSo ill a change, who ever wonImmortal praise for what I wrote,Instructed by her noble thought?
'I, that expressed her commandsTo mighty lords, and princely dames,Always most welcome to their hands,Proud that I would record their names,Must now be taught an humble style,Some meaner beauty to beguile!'
So I, the wronged pen to please,Make it my humble thanks expressUnto your ladyship, in these:And now 'tis forcèd to confessThat your great self did ne'er indite,Nor that, to one more noble, write.
Words in this poem
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- foully v.
- In a foul manner; filthily; nastily; shamefully; unfairly; dishonorably.
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- ladyship n.
- The rank or position of a lady; -- given as a title (preceded by her or your.) Your ladyship shall observe their gravity. B. Jonson.
- indite v. t.
- To compose; to write; to be author of; to dictate; to prompt. [OE. enditen to indite, indict, OF. enditer to indicate, show, dictate, write, inform, and endicter to accuse; both fr. LL. indictare to show, to accuse, fr. L. ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Lady, from Whom He Received a Silver Pen 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, To a Lady, from Whom He Received a Silver Pen, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-a-lady-from-whom-he-received-a-silver-pen.html, id L09096.
Form and metre
To a Lady, from Whom He Received a Silver Pen is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 triedA · gaveB · dyedA · waveB · stain'dC · complain'dC
- 2 A-A--- takeA · boon · makeA · won · wrote · thought
- 3 ABABCC commandsA · damesB · handsA · namesB · styleC · beguileC
- 4 ABABCC pleaseA · expressB · theseA · confessB · inditeC · writeC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Madam! intending to have tried | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| The silver favour which you gave, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In ink the shining point I dyed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And drench'd it in the sable wave; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When, grieved to be so foully stain'd, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On you it thus to me complain'd. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'Suppose you had deserved to take | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| From her fair hand so fair a boon, | 8 | ········ |
| Yet how deservèd I to make | 7 | ······· |
| So ill a change, who ever won | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Immortal praise for what I wrote, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Instructed by her noble thought? | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| 'I, that expressed her commands | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| To mighty lords, and princely dames, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Always most welcome to their hands, | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| Proud that I would record their names, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Must now be taught an humble style, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Some meaner beauty to beguile!' | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| So I, the wronged pen to please, | 8 | ····˘··· |
| Make it my humble thanks express | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Unto your ladyship, in these: | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And now 'tis forcèd to confess | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| That your great self did ne'er indite, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor that, to one more noble, write. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.