Upon the Death of the Lord Protector
We must resign! Heaven his great soul does claimIn storms, as loud as his immortal fame;His dying groans, his last breath, shakes our isle,And trees uncut fall for his funeral pile;About his palace their broad roots are toss'dInto the air.--So Romulus was lost!New Rome in such a tempest miss'd her king,And from obeying fell to worshipping.On Oeta's top thus Hercules lay dead,With ruin'd oaks and pines about him spread;The poplar, too, whose bough he wont to wearOn his victorious head, lay prostrate there;Those his last fury from the mountain rent:Our dying hero from the ContinentRavish'd whole towns: and forts from Spaniards reftAs his last legacy to Britain left.The ocean, which so long our hopes confined,Could give no limits to his vaster mind;Our bounds' enlargement was his latest toil,Nor hath he left us pris'ners to our isle;Under the tropic is our language spoke,And part of Flanders hath received our yoke.From civil broils he did us disengage,Found nobler objects for our martial rage;And, with wise conduct, to his country show'dThe ancient way of conquering abroad.Ungrateful then! if we no tears allowTo him, that gave us peace and empire too.Princes, that fear'd him, grieve, concern'd to seeNo pitch of glory from the grave is free.Nature herself took notice of his death,And, sighing, swell'd the sea with such a breath,That, to remotest shores her billows roll'd,The approaching fate of their great ruler told.
Words in this poem
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- uncut a.
- Not cut; not separated or divided by cutting or otherwise; -- said especially of books, periodicals, and the like, when the leaves have not been separated by trimming in binding.
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- reft n.
- A chink; a rift. See Rift. Rom. of R.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Upon the Death of the Lord Protector 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 the Death of the Lord Protector, in Cooper's Hill, and Other Poems (1645–1668), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/waller-denham/upon-the-death-of-the-lord-protector.html, id L09059.
Form and metre
Upon the Death of the Lord Protector is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII--JJKK----LLMMNN claimA · fameA · isleB · pileB · toss'dC · lostC · kingD · worshippingD · deadE · spreadE · wearF · thereF · rentG · continentG · reftH · leftH · confinedI · mindI · toil · isle · spokeJ · yokeJ · disengageK · rageK · show'd · abroad · allow · too · seeL · freeL · deathM · breathM · roll'dN · toldN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We must resign! Heaven his great soul does claim | 10 | ··˘//····· |
| In storms, as loud as his immortal fame; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| His dying groans, his last breath, shakes our isle, | 10 | ·/˘·····/· |
| And trees uncut fall for his funeral pile; | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| About his palace their broad roots are toss'd | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Into the air.--So Romulus was lost! | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| New Rome in such a tempest miss'd her king, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And from obeying fell to worshipping. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| On Oeta's top thus Hercules lay dead, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With ruin'd oaks and pines about him spread; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The poplar, too, whose bough he wont to wear | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| On his victorious head, lay prostrate there; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Those his last fury from the mountain rent: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Our dying hero from the Continent | 11 | /˘/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Ravish'd whole towns: and forts from Spaniards reft | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As his last legacy to Britain left. | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| The ocean, which so long our hopes confined, | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| Could give no limits to his vaster mind; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Our bounds' enlargement was his latest toil, | 10 | /·˘/˘··/˘· |
| Nor hath he left us pris'ners to our isle; | 10 | ········/· |
| Under the tropic is our language spoke, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| And part of Flanders hath received our yoke. | 10 | ···/˘·˘//· |
| From civil broils he did us disengage, | 10 | ·/˘····˘˘/ |
| Found nobler objects for our martial rage; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·//˘· |
| And, with wise conduct, to his country show'd | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The ancient way of conquering abroad. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| Ungrateful then! if we no tears allow | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| To him, that gave us peace and empire too. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Princes, that fear'd him, grieve, concern'd to see | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| No pitch of glory from the grave is free. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Nature herself took notice of his death, | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| And, sighing, swell'd the sea with such a breath, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That, to remotest shores her billows roll'd, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| The approaching fate of their great ruler told. | 11 | ·˘/˘····/˘· |
Notes from the edition 1
George Gilfillan's notes to the Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham (1857; Project Gutenberg #12322).
- Line 6 'The air': a tremendous tempest blew over England (not on the day), but a day or two before Cromwell's death. It was said that something of the same sort, along with an eclipse of the sun, took place on the removal of Romulus.
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