Upon Our Late Loss of the Duke of Cambridge
The failing blossoms which a young plant bears,Engage our hope for the succeeding years;And hope is all which art or nature brings,At the first trial, to accomplish things.Mankind was first created an essay;That ruder draught the Deluge wash'd away.How many ages pass'd, what blood and toil,Before we made one kingdom of this isle!How long in vain had nature striven to frameA perfect princess, ere her Highness came!For joys so great we must with patience wait;'Tis the set price of happiness complete.As a first fruit, Heaven claim'd that lovely boy;The next shall live, and be the nation's joy.
'Duke of Cambridge': The Duke of York's second son by Mary d'Este.He died when he was only a month old, November 1677.
Words in this poem
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- highness n.
- The state of being high; elevation; loftiness. [AS. heáhnes.]
- 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,]
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Upon Our Late Loss of the Duke of Cambridge 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, Upon Our Late Loss of the Duke of Cambridge, in Poetical Works (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/upon-our-late-loss-of-the-duke-of-cambridge.html, id L09066.
Form and metre
Upon Our Late Loss of the Duke of Cambridge is 16 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% 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 --AABB--CC--DD bears · years · bringsA · thingsA · essayB · awayB · toil · isle · frameC · cameC · wait · complete · boyD · joyD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The failing blossoms which a young plant bears, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Engage our hope for the succeeding years; | 10 | ˘//···˘/˘· |
| And hope is all which art or nature brings, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| At the first trial, to accomplish things. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Mankind was first created an essay; | 10 | //··˘/˘·˘/ |
| That ruder draught the Deluge wash'd away. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| How many ages pass'd, what blood and toil, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Before we made one kingdom of this isle! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How long in vain had nature striven to frame | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| A perfect princess, ere her Highness came! | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| For joys so great we must with patience wait; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Tis the set price of happiness complete. | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| As a first fruit, Heaven claim'd that lovely boy; | 10 | ····/··/˘· |
| The next shall live, and be the nation's joy. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Duke of Cambridge': The Duke of York's second son by Mary d'Este. | 15 | ··/˘····/˘··/˘· |
| He died when he was only a month old, November 1677. | 13 | ·····/˘···˘/˘ |
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.