To His Worthy Friend Sir Thomas Higgons, upon His Translation of 'The Venetian Triumph'
The winged lion's not so fierce in fightAs Liberi's hand presents him to our sight;Nor would his pencil make him half so fierce,Or roar so loud, as Businello's verse;But your translation does all three excel,The fight, the piece, and lofty Businel.As their small galleys may not hold compareWith our tall ships, whose sails employ more air;So does th'Italian to your genius vail,Moved with a fuller and a nobler gale.Thus, while your Muse spreads the Venetian story,You make all Europe emulate her glory;You make them blush weak Venice should defendThe cause of Heaven, while they for words contend;Shed Christian blood, and pop'lous cities raze,Because they're taught to use some different phrase.If, list'ning to your charms, we could our jarsCompose, and on the Turk discharge these wars,Our British arms the sacred tomb might wrestFrom Pagan hands, and triumph o'er the East;And then you might our own high deeds recite,And with great Tasso celebrate the fight.
'Sir T. Higgons': a knight of some note, who translated the'Venetian Triumph,' an Italian poem by Businello, addressed toLiberi, the painter.
Words in this poem
- vail n.
- Avails; profit; return; proceeds. [Aphetic form of avail, n.]
- raze n.
- A Shakespearean word (used once) supposed to mean the same as race, a root. [See Rack.]
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To His Worthy Friend Sir Thomas Higgons, upon His Translation of 'The Venetian Triumph' 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 His Worthy Friend Sir Thomas Higgons, upon His Translation of 'The Venetian Triumph', in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-his-worthy-friend-sir-thomas-higgons-upon-his-translation-of-the-venetian-triumph.html, id L26324.
Form and metre
To His Worthy Friend Sir Thomas Higgons, upon His Translation of 'The Venetian Triumph' is 25 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK fightA · sightA · fierceB · verseB · excelC · businelC · compareD · airD · vailE · galeE · storyF · gloryF · defendG · contendG · razeH · phraseH · jarsI · warsI · wrestJ · eastJ · reciteK · fightK
- 2 AA- theA · toA · painter
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The winged lion's not so fierce in fight | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| As Liberi's hand presents him to our sight; | 11 | ·····/˘··/· |
| Nor would his pencil make him half so fierce, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or roar so loud, as Businello's verse; | 10 | ·········· |
| But your translation does all three excel, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| The fight, the piece, and lofty Businel. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As their small galleys may not hold compare | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| With our tall ships, whose sails employ more air; | 10 | ·/····˘/·· |
| So does th'Italian to your genius vail, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Moved with a fuller and a nobler gale. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thus, while your Muse spreads the Venetian story, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| You make all Europe emulate her glory; | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| You make them blush weak Venice should defend | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The cause of Heaven, while they for words contend; | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| Shed Christian blood, and pop'lous cities raze, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Because they're taught to use some different phrase. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| If, list'ning to your charms, we could our jars | 10 | ········/· |
| Compose, and on the Turk discharge these wars, | 10 | ˘/····˘/·· |
| Our British arms the sacred tomb might wrest | 10 | //˘··/˘··· |
| From Pagan hands, and triumph o'er the East; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And then you might our own high deeds recite, | 10 | ····/···˘/ |
| And with great Tasso celebrate the fight. | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| 'Sir T. Higgons': a knight of some note, who translated the | 14 | ··········˘/˘· |
| 'Venetian Triumph,' an Italian poem by Businello, addressed to | 18 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘/·····˘/· |
| Liberi, the painter. | 6 | ····/˘ |
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