To Phyllis
Phyllis! 'twas love that injured you,And on that rock your Thrysis threw;Who for proud Celia could have died,While you no less accused his pride.
Fond Love his darts at random throws,And nothing springs from what he sows;From foes discharged, as often meetThe shining points of arrows fleet,In the wide air creating fire,As souls that join in one desire.
Love made the lovely Venus burnIn vain, and for the cold youth mourn,Who the pursuit of churlish beastsPreferr'd to sleeping on her breasts.
Love makes so many hearts the prizeOf the bright Carlisle's conqu'ring eyes,Which she regards no more than theyThe tears of lesser beauties weigh.So have I seen the lost clouds pourInto the sea an useless shower;And the vex'd sailors curse the rainFor which poor shepherds pray'd in vain.
Then, Phyllis, since our passions areGovern'd by chance, and not the care,But sport of heaven, which takes delightTo look upon this Parthian fightOf love, still flying, or in chase,Never encount'ring face to face;No more to Love we'll sacrifice,But to the best of deities;And let our hearts, which Love disjoin'd,By his kind mother be combin'd.
Words in this poem
- parthian a.
- Of or pertaining to ancient Parthia, in Asia.
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.html, id L09076.
Form and metre
To Phyllis is 32 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABB youA · threwA · diedB · prideB
- 2 AABBCC throwsA · sowsA · meetB · fleetB · fireC · desireC
- 4 AABB--CC prizeA · eyesA · theyB · weighB · pour · shower · rainC · vainC
- 5 --AABB--CC are · care · delightA · fightA · chaseB · faceB · sacrifice · deities · disjoin'dC · combin'dC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Phyllis! 'twas love that injured you, | 9 | /˘···/˘˘· |
| And on that rock your Thrysis threw; | 8 | ········ |
| Who for proud Celia could have died, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While you no less accused his pride. | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Fond Love his darts at random throws, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And nothing springs from what he sows; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| From foes discharged, as often meet | 9 | ··˘/˘·/˘· |
| The shining points of arrows fleet, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In the wide air creating fire, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| As souls that join in one desire. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Love made the lovely Venus burn | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In vain, and for the cold youth mourn, | 8 | ········ |
| Who the pursuit of churlish beasts | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Preferr'd to sleeping on her breasts. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Love makes so many hearts the prize | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of the bright Carlisle's conqu'ring eyes, | 9 | ···/····· |
| Which she regards no more than they | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The tears of lesser beauties weigh. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| So have I seen the lost clouds pour | 8 | ········ |
| Into the sea an useless shower; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And the vex'd sailors curse the rain | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For which poor shepherds pray'd in vain. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then, Phyllis, since our passions are | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Govern'd by chance, and not the care, | 8 | /˘······ |
| But sport of heaven, which takes delight | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| To look upon this Parthian fight | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Of love, still flying, or in chase, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Never encount'ring face to face; | 8 | /˘······ |
| No more to Love we'll sacrifice, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But to the best of deities; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| And let our hearts, which Love disjoin'd, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| By his kind mother be combin'd. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
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 2 'Cold youth ': Adonis.
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