Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO THOMAS STANLEY, ON HIS LYRIC POEMS, COMPOSED BY JOHN GAMBLE, by RICHARD LOVELACE



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THOMAS STANLEY, ON HIS LYRIC POEMS, COMPOSED BY JOHN GAMBLE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: What means this stately tablature
Last Line: Gamble hath wisely laid of ut re mi.
Subject(s): Stanley, Thomas (1625-1678)


WHAT means this stately tablature,
The balance of thy strains,
Which seems, instead of sifting pure,
T' extend and rack thy veins?
Thy odes first their own harmony did break,
For singing troth is but in tune to speak.

Nor thus thy golden feet and wings,
May it be thought false melody
T' ascend to heav'n by silver strings,
This is Urania's heraldry:
Thy royal poem now we may extol,
And truly Luna blazon'd upon Sol.

As when Amphion first did call
Each list'ning stone from 's den,
And with the lute did form his wall,
But with his words the men;
So, in your twisted numbers now, you thus
Not only stocks persuade, but ravish us.

Thus do your airs echo o'er
The notes and anthems of the spheres,
And their whole consort back restore,
As if Earth too would bless Heav'n's ears:
But yet the spokes, by which they scal'd so high,
Gamble hath wisely laid of ut re mi.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net