To the Hon. Edward Howard, on 'the British Princes'
What mighty gale hath raised a flight so strong,So high above all vulgar eyes, so long?One single rapture scarce itself confinesWithin the limits of four thousand lines:And yet I hope to see this noble heatContinue till it makes the piece complete,That to the latter age it may descend,And to the end of time its beams extend.When poesy joins profit with delight,Her images should be most exquisite;Since man to that perfection cannot rise,Of always virtuous, fortunate, and wise;Therefore the patterns man should imitateAbove the life our masters should create.Herein if we consult with Greece and Rome,Greece (as in war) by Rome was overcome;Though mighty raptures we in Homer find,Yet, like himself, his characters were blind:Virgil's sublimèd eyes not only gazed,But his sublimèd thoughts to heaven were raised.Who reads the honours which he paid the godsWould think he had beheld their bless'd abodes;And that his hero might accomplish'd be,From divine blood he draws his pedigree.From that great judge your judgment takes its law,And by the best original does drawBonduca's honour, with those heroes TimeHad in oblivion wrapp'd, his saucy crime:To them and to your nation you are just,In raising up their glories from the dust;And to Old England you that right have done,To show no story nobler than her own.
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- consult n.
- The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consulation; determination; decision.
- pedigree n.
- A line of ancestors; descent; lineage; genealogy; a register or record of a line of ancestors. [Of unknown origin; possibly fr. F. par degrés by degrees, -- for a pedigree is properly a genealogical table which records the relationship of families by degre]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Hon. Edward Howard, on 'the British Princes' 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 the Hon. Edward Howard, on 'the British Princes', in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-the-hon-edward-howard-on-the-british-princes.html, id L09161.
Form and metre
To the Hon. Edward Howard, on 'the British Princes' is 32 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPP strongA · longA · confinesB · linesB · heatC · completeC · descendD · extendD · delightE · exquisiteE · riseF · wiseF · imitateG · createG · romeH · overcomeH · findI · blindI · gazedJ · raisedJ · godsK · abodesK · beL · pedigreeL · lawM · drawM · timeN · crimeN · justO · dustO · doneP · ownP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What mighty gale hath raised a flight so strong, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| So high above all vulgar eyes, so long? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| One single rapture scarce itself confines | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Within the limits of four thousand lines: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And yet I hope to see this noble heat | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Continue till it makes the piece complete, | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| That to the latter age it may descend, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And to the end of time its beams extend. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| When poesy joins profit with delight, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Her images should be most exquisite; | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘ |
| Since man to that perfection cannot rise, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Of always virtuous, fortunate, and wise; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Therefore the patterns man should imitate | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Above the life our masters should create. | 10 | ····//˘·˘/ |
| Herein if we consult with Greece and Rome, | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| Greece (as in war) by Rome was overcome; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Though mighty raptures we in Homer find, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Yet, like himself, his characters were blind: | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Virgil's sublimèd eyes not only gazed, | 10 | /˘····/˘·˘ |
| But his sublimèd thoughts to heaven were raised. | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Who reads the honours which he paid the gods | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Would think he had beheld their bless'd abodes; | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| And that his hero might accomplish'd be, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| From divine blood he draws his pedigree. | 10 | ·˘/····/˘˘ |
| From that great judge your judgment takes its law, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And by the best original does draw | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Bonduca's honour, with those heroes Time | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Had in oblivion wrapp'd, his saucy crime: | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| To them and to your nation you are just, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In raising up their glories from the dust; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And to Old England you that right have done, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To show no story nobler than her own. | 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.