To the Queen-Mother of France, upon Her Landing
Great Queen of Europe! where thy offspring wearsAll the chief crowns; where princes are thy heirs;As welcome thou to sea-girt Britain's shore,As erst Latona (who fair Cynthia bore)To Delos was; here shines a nymph as bright,By thee disclosed, with like increase of light.Why was her joy in Belgia confined?Or why did you so much regard the wind?Scarce could the ocean, though enraged, have toss'dThy sov'reign bark, but where th'obsequious coastPays tribute to thy bed. Rome's conqu'ring handMore vanquished nations under her commandNever reduced. Glad Berecynthia soAmong her deathless progeny did go;A wreath of towers adorn'd her rev'rend head,Mother of all that on ambrosia fed.Thy godlike race must sway the age to come,As she Olympus peopled with her womb.
Would those commanders of mankind obeyTheir honour'd parent, all pretences layDown at your royal feet, compose their jars,And on the growing Turk discharge these wars;The Christian knights that sacred tomb should wrestFrom Pagan hands, and triumph o'er the East;Our England's Prince, and Gallia's Dolphin, mightLike young Rinaldo and Tancredi fight;In single combat by their swords againThe proud Argantes and fierce Soldan slain;Again might we their valiant deeds recite,And with your Tuscan Muse exalt the fight.
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]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- peopled a.
- Stocked with, or as with, people; inhabited.
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Queen-Mother of France, upon Her Landing 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 Queen-Mother of France, upon Her Landing, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-the-queen-mother-of-france-upon-her-landing.html, id L09077.
Form and metre
To the Queen-Mother of France, upon Her Landing is 30 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 73% 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 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 37% 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 AABBCCDD--EEFFGG-- wearsA · heirsA · shoreB · boreB · brightC · lightC · confinedD · windD · toss'd · coast · handE · commandE · soF · goF · headG · fedG · come · womb
- 2 AA----BBCCBB obeyA · layA · jars · wars · wrest · east · mightB · fightB · againC · slainC · reciteB · fightB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Great Queen of Europe! where thy offspring wears | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| All the chief crowns; where princes are thy heirs; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As welcome thou to sea-girt Britain's shore, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| As erst Latona (who fair Cynthia bore) | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| To Delos was; here shines a nymph as bright, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| By thee disclosed, with like increase of light. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| Why was her joy in Belgia confined? | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Or why did you so much regard the wind? | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Scarce could the ocean, though enraged, have toss'd | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Thy sov'reign bark, but where th'obsequious coast | 10 | ·········· |
| Pays tribute to thy bed. Rome's conqu'ring hand | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| More vanquished nations under her command | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Never reduced. Glad Berecynthia so | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| Among her deathless progeny did go; | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| A wreath of towers adorn'd her rev'rend head, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Mother of all that on ambrosia fed. | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| Thy godlike race must sway the age to come, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| As she Olympus peopled with her womb. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Would those commanders of mankind obey | 10 | ··˘/˘·//˘/ |
| Their honour'd parent, all pretences lay | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Down at your royal feet, compose their jars, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| And on the growing Turk discharge these wars; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| The Christian knights that sacred tomb should wrest | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| From Pagan hands, and triumph o'er the East; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Our England's Prince, and Gallia's Dolphin, might | 10 | //˘··/˘/˘· |
| Like young Rinaldo and Tancredi fight; | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| In single combat by their swords again | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| The proud Argantes and fierce Soldan slain; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Again might we their valiant deeds recite, | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| And with your Tuscan Muse exalt the fight. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
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 2, line 12 'Her landing': Mary de Medicis, widow of Henry IV., and mother of the King of France, and of the Queens of England and Spain, coming to England in 1638, was very ill received by the people, and forced ultimately to leave the country.
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