To the Queen, upon Her Majesty's Birthday, After Her Happy Recovery from a Dangerous Sickness
Farewell the year! which threaten'd soThe fairest light the world can show.Welcome the new! whose every day,Restoring what was snatch'd awayBy pining sickness from the fair,That matchless beauty does repairSo fast, that the approaching spring(Which does to flow'ry meadows bringWhat the rude winter from them tore)Shall give her all she had before.
But we recover not so fastThe sense of such a danger past;We that esteem'd you sent from heaven,A pattern to this island given,To show us what the bless'd do there,And what alive they practised here,When that which we immortal thought,We saw so near destruction brought,Felt all which you did then endure,And tremble yet, as not secure.So though the sun victorious be,And from a dark eclipse set free,The influence, which we fondly fear,Afflicts our thoughts the following year.
But that which may relieve our careIs, that you have a help so nearFor all the evil you can prove,The kindness of your royal love;He that was never known to mourn,So many kingdoms from him torn,His tears reserved for you, more dear,More prized, than all those kingdoms were!For when no healing art prevail'd,When cordials and elixirs fail'd,On your pale cheek he dropp'd the shower,Revived you like a dying flower.
Words in this poem
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- 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,]
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- relieve v. t.
- To lift up; to raise again, as one who has fallen; to cause to rise. Piers Plowman. [OE. releven, F. relever to raise again, discharge, relieve, fr. L. relevare to lift up, raise, make light, relieve; pref. re- re- + levare to raise, fr. levis l]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Queen, upon Her Majesty's Birthday, After Her Happy Recovery from a Dangerous Sickness 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, upon Her Majesty's Birthday, After Her Happy Recovery from a Dangerous Sickness, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-the-queen-upon-her-majesty-s-birthday-after-her-happy-recovery-from-a-dangerous-sickness.html, id L26326.
Form and metre
To the Queen, upon Her Majesty's Birthday, After Her Happy Recovery from a Dangerous Sickness is 36 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AABBCCDDEE soA · showA · dayB · awayB · fairC · repairC · springD · bringD · toreE · beforeE
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGG fastA · pastA · heavenB · givenB · thereC · hereC · thoughtD · broughtD · endureE · secureE · beF · freeF · fearG · yearG
- 3 AABBCCA-DDEE careA · nearA · proveB · loveB · mournC · tornC · dearA · were · prevail'dD · fail'dD · showerE · flowerE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Farewell the year! which threaten'd so | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| The fairest light the world can show. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Welcome the new! whose every day, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Restoring what was snatch'd away | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| By pining sickness from the fair, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That matchless beauty does repair | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| So fast, that the approaching spring | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| (Which does to flow'ry meadows bring | 10 | ·······/·· |
| What the rude winter from them tore) | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shall give her all she had before. | 8 | ········ |
| But we recover not so fast | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The sense of such a danger past; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| We that esteem'd you sent from heaven, | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| A pattern to this island given, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| To show us what the bless'd do there, | 8 | ········ |
| And what alive they practised here, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| When that which we immortal thought, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| We saw so near destruction brought, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Felt all which you did then endure, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And tremble yet, as not secure. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| So though the sun victorious be, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And from a dark eclipse set free, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The influence, which we fondly fear, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Afflicts our thoughts the following year. | 8 | ˘//··/˘· |
| But that which may relieve our care | 8 | ····˘//· |
| Is, that you have a help so near | 8 | ········ |
| For all the evil you can prove, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The kindness of your royal love; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He that was never known to mourn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So many kingdoms from him torn, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| His tears reserved for you, more dear, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| More prized, than all those kingdoms were! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For when no healing art prevail'd, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When cordials and elixirs fail'd, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| On your pale cheek he dropp'd the shower, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Revived you like a dying flower. | 9 | ˘/···/˘/˘ |
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