To Phyllis
Phyllis! why should we delayPleasures shorter than the day?Could we (which we never can!)Stretch our lives beyond their span,Beauty like a shadow flies,And our youth before us dies.Or would youth and beauty stay,Love hath wings, and will away.Love hath swifter wings than Time,Change in love to heaven does climb.Gods, that never change their state,Vary oft their love and hate.
Phyllis! to this truth we oweAll the love betwixt us two.Let not you and I inquireWhat has been our past desire;On what shepherds you have smiled,Or what nymphs I have beguiled;Leave it to the planets too,What we shall hereafter do;For the joys we now may prove,Take advice of present love.
Thus the wise nightingale that leaves her home,Her native wood, when storms and winter come,Pursuing constantly the cheerful spring,To foreign groves does her old music bring.
The drooping Hebrews' banish'd harps, unstrung,At Babylon upon the willows hung;Yours sounds aloud, and tells us you excelNo less in courage, than in singing well;While, unconcern'd, you let your country knowThey have impoverish'd themselves, not you;Who, with the Muses' help, can mock those fatesWhich threaten kingdoms, and disorder states.So Ovid, when from Cæsar's rage he fled,The Roman Muse to Pontus with him led;Where he so sung, that we, through pity's glass,See Nero milder than Augustus was.Hereafter such, in thy behalf, shall beTh' indulgent censure of posterity.To banish those who with such art can sing,Is a rude crime, which its own curse doth bring;Ages to come shall ne'er know how they fought,Nor how to love, their present youth be taught.
This to thyself.--Now to thy matchless book,Wherein those few that can with judgment look,May find old love in pure fresh language told,Like new-stamp'd coin made out of angel-gold.Such truth in love as th'antique world did know,In such a style as courts may boast of now;Which no bold tales of gods or monsters swell,But human passions, such as with us dwell.Man is thy theme; his virtue or his rageDrawn to the life in each elaborate page.Mars nor Bellona are not namèd here,But such a Gondibert as both might fear;Venus had here, and Hebe, been outshinedBy the bright Birtha and thy Rhodalind.Such is thy happy skill, and such the oddsBetwixt thy worthies and the Grecian gods!Whose deities in vain had here come down,Where mortal beauty wears the Sovereign crown;Such as of flesh compos'd, by flesh and blood,Though not resisted, may be understood.
Words in this poem
- swifter v. t.
- To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- nero n.
- A Roman emperor notorius for debauchery and barbarous cruelty; hence, any profligate and cruel ruler or merciless tyrant.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- bellona n.
- The goddess of war. [L., from bellum war.]
- hebe n.
- The goddess of youth, daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was believed to have the power of restoring youth and beauty to those who had lost them. [L., fr. Gr. "h`bh youth, "H`bh Hebe.]
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Phyllis 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 Phyllis, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-phyllis-2.html, id L09088.
Form and metre
To Phyllis is 64 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 81% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCAADDEE delayA · dayA · canB · spanB · fliesC · diesC · stayA · awayA · timeD · climbD · stateE · hateE
- 2 -A--BBAACC owe · twoA · inquire · desire · smiledB · beguiledB · tooA · doA · proveC · loveC
- 3 AABB homeA · comeA · springB · bringB
- 4 AABB--CCDD----EEFF unstrungA · hungA · excelB · wellB · know · you · fatesC · statesC · fledD · ledD · glass · was · be · posterity · singE · bringE · foughtF · taughtF
- 5 AABB--CCDDEEFFGGHHII bookA · lookA · toldB · goldB · know · now · swellC · dwellC · rageD · pageD · hereE · fearE · outshinedF · rhodalindF · oddsG · godsG · downH · crownH · bloodI · understoodI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Phyllis! why should we delay | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Pleasures shorter than the day? | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Could we (which we never can!) | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Stretch our lives beyond their span, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Beauty like a shadow flies, | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| And our youth before us dies. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or would youth and beauty stay, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Love hath wings, and will away. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Love hath swifter wings than Time, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Change in love to heaven does climb. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Gods, that never change their state, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Vary oft their love and hate. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Phyllis! to this truth we owe | 7 | /˘····· |
| All the love betwixt us two. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Let not you and I inquire | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| What has been our past desire; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| On what shepherds you have smiled, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Or what nymphs I have beguiled; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Leave it to the planets too, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| What we shall hereafter do; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| For the joys we now may prove, | 7 | ······· |
| Take advice of present love. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Thus the wise nightingale that leaves her home, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Her native wood, when storms and winter come, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Pursuing constantly the cheerful spring, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| To foreign groves does her old music bring. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The drooping Hebrews' banish'd harps, unstrung, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| At Babylon upon the willows hung; | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Yours sounds aloud, and tells us you excel | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| No less in courage, than in singing well; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While, unconcern'd, you let your country know | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| They have impoverish'd themselves, not you; | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/·· |
| Who, with the Muses' help, can mock those fates | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Which threaten kingdoms, and disorder states. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| So Ovid, when from Cæsar's rage he fled, | 9 | ········· |
| The Roman Muse to Pontus with him led; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Where he so sung, that we, through pity's glass, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| See Nero milder than Augustus was. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Hereafter such, in thy behalf, shall be | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/·· |
| Th' indulgent censure of posterity. | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| To banish those who with such art can sing, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Is a rude crime, which its own curse doth bring; | 10 | ·········· |
| Ages to come shall ne'er know how they fought, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Nor how to love, their present youth be taught. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| This to thyself.--Now to thy matchless book, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Wherein those few that can with judgment look, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| May find old love in pure fresh language told, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Like new-stamp'd coin made out of angel-gold. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Such truth in love as th'antique world did know, | 10 | ·········· |
| In such a style as courts may boast of now; | 10 | ·········· |
| Which no bold tales of gods or monsters swell, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But human passions, such as with us dwell. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Man is thy theme; his virtue or his rage | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Drawn to the life in each elaborate page. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Mars nor Bellona are not namèd here, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| But such a Gondibert as both might fear; | 10 | ·········· |
| Venus had here, and Hebe, been outshined | 10 | /˘·····/·˘ |
| By the bright Birtha and thy Rhodalind. | 10 | ·········· |
| Such is thy happy skill, and such the odds | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Betwixt thy worthies and the Grecian gods! | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Whose deities in vain had here come down, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Where mortal beauty wears the Sovereign crown; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Such as of flesh compos'd, by flesh and blood, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Though not resisted, may be understood. | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
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.