Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO MR. HENRY LAWES, by EDMUND WALLER Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Verse makes heroic virtue live Last Line: Let words and sense be set by thee. Subject(s): Composers; Lawes, Henry (1596-1662); Noy, William; Singing & Singers | ||||||||
[WHO HAD NEWLY SET A SONG OF MINE IN THE YEAR 1635] VERSE makes heroic virtue live; But you can life to verses give. As when in open air we blow, The breath, though strained, sounds flat and low; But if a trumpet takes the blast, It lifts it high and makes it last; So in your airs our numbers dressed Make a shrill sally from the breast Of nymphs, who, singing what we penned, Our passions to themselves commend; While love, victorious with thy art, Governs at once their voice and heart. You, by the help of tune and time, Can make that song which was but rhyme. Noy pleading, no man doubts the cause, Or questions verses set by Lawes. As a church-window, thick with paint, Lets in a light but dim and faint, So others, with division, hide The light of sense, the poet's pride; But you alone may truly boast That not a syllable is lolst: The writer's and the setter's skill At once the ravished ears do fill. Let those which only warble long, And gargle in their throats a song, Content themselves with ut, re, me: Let words and sense be set by thee. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE APOLLO TRIO by CONRAD AIKEN BAD GIRL SINGING by MARK JARMAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 4 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 5 by JAMES JOYCE CHAMBER MUSIC: 28 by JAMES JOYCE THE SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE IS LIKE THE SCENT OF SYRINGA by MINA LOY OF A FAIR LADY PLAYING WITH A SNAKE by EDMUND WALLER |
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