To Zelinda
Fairest piece of well-form'd earth!Urge not thus your haughty birth;The power which you have o'er us liesNot in your race, but in your eyes.'None but a prince!'--Alas! that voiceConfines you to a narrow choice.Should you no honey vow to taste,But what the master-bees have placedIn compass of their cells, how smallA portion to your share would fall!Nor all appear, among those few,Worthy the stock from whence they grew.The sap which at the root is bredIn trees, through all the boughs is spread;But virtues which in parents shine,Make not like progress through the line.'Tis not from whom, but where, we live;The place does oft those graces give.Great Julius, on the mountains bred,A flock perhaps, or herd, had led.He that the world subdued, had beenBut the best wrestler on the green.'Tis art and knowledge which draw forthThe hidden seeds of native worth;They blow those sparks, and make them riseInto such flames as touch the skies.To the old heroes hence was givenA pedigree which reached to heaven;Of mortal seed they were not held,Which other mortals so excell'd.And beauty, too, in such excessAs yours, Zelinda! claims no less.Smile but on me, and you shall scorn,Henceforth, to be of princes born.I can describe, the shady groveWhere your loved mother slept with Jove;And yet excuse the faultless dame,Caught with her spouse's shape and name.Thy matchless form will credit bringTo all the wonders I shall sing.
'Zelinda': referring to a novel where the lady, a princess, refusesa lover, saying, 'I will have none but a prince!''World subdued': Alexander.
Words in this poem
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- wrestler n.
- One who wrestles; one who is skillful in wrestling. [AS. wræstlere.]
- 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]
- 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,]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- 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.]
- faultless a.
- Without fault; not defective or imperfect; free from blemish; free from incorrectness, vice, or offense; perfect; as, a faultless poem.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Zelinda 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 Zelinda, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/to-zelinda.html, id L09091.
Form and metre
To Zelinda is 43 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH--II----JJ--KKLLMMNNOOPP earthA · birthA · liesB · eyesB · voiceC · choiceC · tasteD · placedD · smallE · fallE · fewF · grewF · bredG · spreadG · shineH · lineH · live · give · bredI · ledI · been · green · forth · worth · riseJ · skiesJ · given · heaven · heldK · excell'dK · excessL · lessL · scornM · bornM · groveN · joveN · dameO · nameO · bringP · singP
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fairest piece of well-form'd earth! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Urge not thus your haughty birth; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The power which you have o'er us lies | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Not in your race, but in your eyes. | 8 | ········ |
| 'None but a prince!'--Alas! that voice | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Confines you to a narrow choice. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Should you no honey vow to taste, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But what the master-bees have placed | 9 | ···/˘···˘ |
| In compass of their cells, how small | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A portion to your share would fall! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor all appear, among those few, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Worthy the stock from whence they grew. | 8 | /˘······ |
| The sap which at the root is bred | 8 | ········ |
| In trees, through all the boughs is spread; | 8 | ········ |
| But virtues which in parents shine, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Make not like progress through the line. | 8 | ···/···· |
| 'Tis not from whom, but where, we live; | 8 | ········ |
| The place does oft those graces give. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Great Julius, on the mountains bred, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A flock perhaps, or herd, had led. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He that the world subdued, had been | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| But the best wrestler on the green. | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| 'Tis art and knowledge which draw forth | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The hidden seeds of native worth; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They blow those sparks, and make them rise | 8 | ········ |
| Into such flames as touch the skies. | 8 | ········ |
| To the old heroes hence was given | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| A pedigree which reached to heaven; | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘·/˘ |
| Of mortal seed they were not held, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which other mortals so excell'd. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And beauty, too, in such excess | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| As yours, Zelinda! claims no less. | 8 | ········ |
| Smile but on me, and you shall scorn, | 8 | ········ |
| Henceforth, to be of princes born. | 8 | //···/˘· |
| I can describe, the shady grove | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Where your loved mother slept with Jove; | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| And yet excuse the faultless dame, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Caught with her spouse's shape and name. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy matchless form will credit bring | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To all the wonders I shall sing. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Zelinda': referring to a novel where the lady, a princess, refuses | 20 | ···˘/˘··/˘··/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| a lover, saying, 'I will have none but a prince!' | 12 | ·/˘/˘······· |
| 'World subdued': Alexander. | 7 | ·˘/·˘/˘ |
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 1, line 21 'World subdued': Alexander.
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