To Mr Henry Lawes, Who Had Then Newly Set a Song of Mine in the Year 1635
Verse makes heroic virtue live;But you can life to verses give.As when in open air we blow,The breath, though strain'd, sounds flat and low;But if a trumpet take the blast,It lifts it high, and makes it last:So in your airs our numbers dress'd,Make a shrill sally from the breastOf nymphs, who, singing what we penn'd,Our passions to themselves commend;While love, victorious with thy art,Governs at once their voice and heart.
You by the help of tune and time,Can make that song that was but rhyme.Noy pleading, no man doubts the cause;Or questions verses set by Lawes.
As a church window, thick with paint,Lets in a light but dim and faint;So others, with division, hideThe light of sense, the poet's pride:But you alone may proudly boastThat not a syllable is lost;The writer's and the setter's skillAt once the ravish'd ears do fill.Let those which only warble long,And gargle in their throats a song,Content themselves with Ut, Re, Mi:Let words, and sense, be set by thee.'Lawes': an eminent musical composer, who composed the music forMilton's Comus.'Noy': Attorney-General to Charles I., had died in 1635. By apoetical licence Waller represents him still pleading.'Ut, Re, Mi': Lawes opposed the Italian music.
Words in this poem
- warble v. t.
- To sing in a trilling, quavering, or vibratory manner; to modulate with turns or variations; to trill; as, certain birds are remarkable for warbling their songs. [OE. werbelen, OF. werbler; of Teutonic origin; cf. G. wirbeln to turn, to warble, D. wervelen, akin to E. whirl. See Whirl.]
- gargle v. t.
- To wash or rinse, as the mouth or throat, particular the latter, agitating the liquid (water or a medicinal preparation) by an expulsion of air from the lungs. [F. gargouiller to dabble, paddle, gargle. Cf. Gargoyle, Gurgle.]
- waller n.
- One who builds walls.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mr Henry Lawes, Who Had Then Newly Set a Song of Mine in the Year 1635 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 Henry Lawes, Who Had Then Newly Set a Song of Mine in the Year 1635, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-mr-henry-lawes-who-had-then-newly-set-a-song-of-mine-in-the-year-1635.html, id L26321.
Form and metre
To Mr Henry Lawes, Who Had Then Newly Set a Song of Mine in the Year 1635 is 33 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 79% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFF liveA · giveA · blowB · lowB · blastC · lastC · dress'dD · breastD · penn'dE · commendE · artF · heartF
- 2 AABB timeA · rhymeA · causeB · lawesB
- 3 AABB--CCDDEE----- paintA · faintA · hideB · prideB · boast · lost · skillC · fillC · longD · songD · miE · theeE · for · comus · a · pleading · music
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Verse makes heroic virtue live; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| But you can life to verses give. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As when in open air we blow, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The breath, though strain'd, sounds flat and low; | 8 | ········ |
| But if a trumpet take the blast, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It lifts it high, and makes it last: | 8 | ········ |
| So in your airs our numbers dress'd, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Make a shrill sally from the breast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of nymphs, who, singing what we penn'd, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our passions to themselves commend; | 8 | //˘·˘/˘/ |
| While love, victorious with thy art, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Governs at once their voice and heart. | 8 | /˘······ |
| You by the help of tune and time, | 8 | ········ |
| Can make that song that was but rhyme. | 8 | ········ |
| Noy pleading, no man doubts the cause; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or questions verses set by Lawes. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| As a church window, thick with paint, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lets in a light but dim and faint; | 8 | ········ |
| So others, with division, hide | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The light of sense, the poet's pride: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But you alone may proudly boast | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That not a syllable is lost; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The writer's and the setter's skill | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At once the ravish'd ears do fill. | 8 | ········ |
| Let those which only warble long, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And gargle in their throats a song, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Content themselves with Ut, Re, Mi: | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Let words, and sense, be set by thee. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Lawes': an eminent musical composer, who composed the music for | 16 | ··/˘/˘˘/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Milton's Comus. | 4 | /˘·· |
| 'Noy': Attorney-General to Charles I., had died in 1635. By a | 14 | ·˘/˘/˘········ |
| poetical licence Waller represents him still pleading. | 14 | ···/˘/˘·˘/··/˘ |
| 'Ut, Re, Mi': Lawes opposed the Italian music. | 12 | ····˘/·˘/˘/˘ |
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 2, line 3 'Noy': Attorney-General to Charles I., had died in 1635. By a poetical licence Waller represents him still pleading.
- Stanza 3, line 11 'Ut, Re, Mi': Lawes opposed the Italian music.
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