To a Lady Singing a Song of His Composing

Edmund Waller 1606 (Coleshill) – 1687



Chloris! yourself you so excel,
When you vouchsafe to breathe my thought,
That, like a spirit, with this spell
Of my own teaching, I am taught.

That eagle's fate and mine are one,
Which, on the shaft that made him die,
Espied a feather of his own,
Wherewith he wont to soar so high.

Had Echo, with so sweet a grace,
Narcissus' loud complaints returned,
Not for reflection of his face,
But of his voice, the boy had burned.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

24 sec read
370

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB XCXC DEDE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 420
Words 81
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Edmund Waller

Edmund Waller, FRS was an English poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1679. more…

All Edmund Waller poems | Edmund Waller Books

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