To Mr George Sandys, on His Translation of Some Parts of the Bible
How bold a work attempts that pen,Which would enrich our vulgar tongueWith the high raptures of those menWho, here, with the same spirit sungWherewith they now assist the choirOf angels, who their songs admire!
Whatever those inspirèd soulsWere urgèd to express, did shakeThe aged deep and both the poles;Their num'rous thunder could awakeDull earth, which does with Heaven consentTo all they wrote, and all they meant.
Say, sacred bard! what could bestowCourage on thee to soar so high?Tell me, brave friend! what help'd thee soTo shake off all mortality?To light this torch, thou hast climb'd higherThan he who stole celestial fire.
'Sandys,' besides his 'Ovid,' which Pope read and relished in hisboyhood, versified some of the poetical parts of the Bible.'Celestial fire': Prometheus.
Words in this poem
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- boyhood n.
- The state of being a boy; the time during which one is a boy. [Boy + -hood.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mr George Sandys, on His Translation of Some Parts of the Bible 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 Mr George Sandys, on His Translation of Some Parts of the Bible, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-mr-george-sandys-on-his-translation-of-some-parts-of-the-.html, id L09099.
Form and metre
To Mr George Sandys, on His Translation of Some Parts of the Bible is 21 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 57% 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-- penA · tongueB · menA · sungB · choir · admire
- 2 ABABCC soulsA · shakeB · polesA · awakeB · consentC · meantC
- 3 A-A-BB bestowA · high · soA · mortality · higherB · fireB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How bold a work attempts that pen, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Which would enrich our vulgar tongue | 9 | ··˘//˘/˘· |
| With the high raptures of those men | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who, here, with the same spirit sung | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wherewith they now assist the choir | 9 | ˘/··˘/·/˘ |
| Of angels, who their songs admire! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Whatever those inspirèd souls | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Were urgèd to express, did shake | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| The aged deep and both the poles; | 7 | ······· |
| Their num'rous thunder could awake | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Dull earth, which does with Heaven consent | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| To all they wrote, and all they meant. | 8 | ········ |
| Say, sacred bard! what could bestow | 9 | ·/˘˘···˘/ |
| Courage on thee to soar so high? | 8 | /˘······ |
| Tell me, brave friend! what help'd thee so | 8 | ········ |
| To shake off all mortality? | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| To light this torch, thou hast climb'd higher | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Than he who stole celestial fire. | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| 'Sandys,' besides his 'Ovid,' which Pope read and relished in his | 15 | /˘˘/·······/˘·· |
| boyhood, versified some of the poetical parts of the Bible. | 15 | /············/˘ |
| 'Celestial fire': Prometheus. | 9 | ˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
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 3, line 6 'Celestial fire': Prometheus.
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