To a Lady Singing a Song of His Composing
Chloris! yourself you so excel,When you vouchsafe to breathe my thought,That, like a spirit, with this spellOf my own teaching, I am caught.
That eagle's fate and mine are one,Which, on the shaft that made him die,Espied a feather of his own,Wherewith he wont to soar so high.
Had Echo, with so sweet a grace,Narcissus' loud complaints return'd,Not for reflection of his face,But of his voice, the boy had burn'd.
'Eagle's fate': Byron copies this thought in his verses on KirkeWhite
Words in this poem
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Lady Singing a Song of His Composing 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 Singing a Song of His Composing, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-a-lady-singing-a-song-of-his-composing.html, id L09094.
Form and metre
To a Lady Singing a Song of His Composing is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 21% 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 ABAB excelA · thoughtB · spellA · caughtB
- 2 -A-A one · dieA · own · highA
- 3 ABAB graceA · return'dB · faceA · burn'dB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Chloris! yourself you so excel, | 8 | /˘˘/··˘/ |
| When you vouchsafe to breathe my thought, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| That, like a spirit, with this spell | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of my own teaching, I am caught. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That eagle's fate and mine are one, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which, on the shaft that made him die, | 8 | ········ |
| Espied a feather of his own, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Wherewith he wont to soar so high. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Had Echo, with so sweet a grace, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Narcissus' loud complaints return'd, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Not for reflection of his face, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| But of his voice, the boy had burn'd. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Eagle's fate': Byron copies this thought in his verses on Kirke | 15 | /˘·/˘/˘····/˘·· |
| White | 1 | · |
Notes from the edition 1
George Gilfillan's notes to the Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham (1857; Project Gutenberg #12322).
- Stanza 2, line 1 'Eagle's fate': Byron copies this thought in his verses on Kirke White
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