To the King, on His Navy
Where'er thy navy spreads her canvas wings,Homage to thee, and peace to all she brings;The French and Spaniard, when thy flags appear,Forget their hatred, and consent to fear.So Jove from Ida did both hosts survey,And when he pleased to thunder, part the fray.Ships heretofore in seas like fishes sped,The mightiest still upon the smallest fed;Thou on the deep imposest nobler laws,And by that justice hast removed the causeOf those rude tempests, which for rapine sent,Too oft, alas! involved the innocent.Now shall the ocean, as thy Thames, be freeFrom both those fates, of storms and piracy.
But we most happy, who can fear no forceBut winged troops, or Pegasean horse.'Tis not so hard for greedy foes to spoilAnother nation, as to touch our soil.Should Nature's self invade the world again,And o'er the centre spread the liquid main,Thy power were safe, and her destructive handWould but enlarge the bounds of thy command;Thy dreadful fleet would style thee lord of all,And ride in triumph o'er the drowned ball;Those towers of oak o'er fertile plains might go,And visit mountains where they once did grow.
The world's Restorer once could not endureThat finish'd Babel should those men secure,Whose pride design'd that fabric to have stoodAbove the reach of any second flood;To thee, his chosen, more indulgent, heDares trust such power with so much piety.
Words in this poem
- spaniard n.
- A native or inhabitant of Spain.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- 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,]
- piracy n.
- The act or crime of a pirate. [Cf. LL. piratia, Gr. Pirate.]
- pegasean a.
- Of or pertaining to Pegasus, or, figuratively, to poetry.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- restorer n.
- One who, or that which, restores.
- babel n.
- The city and tower in the land of Shinar, where the confusion of languages took place. [Heb. Babel, the name of the capital of Babylonia; in Genesis associated with the idea of "confusion"]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the King, on His Navy 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 King, on His Navy, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-the-king-on-his-navy.html, id L09074.
Form and metre
To the King, on His Navy is 32 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG wingsA · bringsA · appearB · fearB · surveyC · frayC · spedD · fedD · lawsE · causeE · sentF · innocentF · freeG · piracyG
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF forceA · horseA · spoilB · soilB · againC · mainC · handD · commandD · allE · ballE · goF · growF
- 3 AABB-- endureA · secureA · stoodB · floodB · he · piety
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Where'er thy navy spreads her canvas wings, | 11 | ˘˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Homage to thee, and peace to all she brings; | 10 | /˘········ |
| The French and Spaniard, when thy flags appear, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Forget their hatred, and consent to fear. | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/·· |
| So Jove from Ida did both hosts survey, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And when he pleased to thunder, part the fray. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ships heretofore in seas like fishes sped, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| The mightiest still upon the smallest fed; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thou on the deep imposest nobler laws, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| And by that justice hast removed the cause | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Of those rude tempests, which for rapine sent, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Too oft, alas! involved the innocent. | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘˘ |
| Now shall the ocean, as thy Thames, be free | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| From both those fates, of storms and piracy. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| But we most happy, who can fear no force | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But winged troops, or Pegasean horse. | 10 | ··˘··˘/˘˘· |
| 'Tis not so hard for greedy foes to spoil | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Another nation, as to touch our soil. | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···/· |
| Should Nature's self invade the world again, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| And o'er the centre spread the liquid main, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thy power were safe, and her destructive hand | 10 | ·/····˘/˘· |
| Would but enlarge the bounds of thy command; | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Thy dreadful fleet would style thee lord of all, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And ride in triumph o'er the drowned ball; | 10 | ···/˘···˘· |
| Those towers of oak o'er fertile plains might go, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And visit mountains where they once did grow. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The world's Restorer once could not endure | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| That finish'd Babel should those men secure, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Whose pride design'd that fabric to have stood | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Above the reach of any second flood; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To thee, his chosen, more indulgent, he | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Dares trust such power with so much piety. | 11 | ···/˘···/˘˘ |
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