The Story of Phœbus and Daphne, Applied

By Edmund Waller 1606–1687 Edmund Waller

Thyrsis, a youth of the inspired train,

Fair Sacharissa lov’d, but lov’d in vain;

Like Phœbus sung the no less amorous boy;

Like Daphne she, as lovely, and as coy;

With numbers he the flying nymph pursues,

With numbers such as Phœbus’ self might use;

Such is the chase when Love and Fancy leads,

O’er craggy mountains, and through flow’ry meads;

Invok’d to testify the lover’s care,

Or form some image of his cruel fair:

Urg’d with his fury, like a wounded deer,

O’er these he fled; and now approaching near,

Had reach’d the nymph with his harmonious lay,

Whom all his charms could not incline to stay.

Yet what he sung in his immortal strain,

Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain;

All but the nymph that should redress his wrong,

Attend his passion, and approve his song.

Like Phœbus thus, acquiring unsought praise,

He catch’d at love, and fill’d his arm with bays.

Biography

Elected to Parliament at age 16, Edmund Waller quickly gained a reputation as a masterful orator. He was also a celebrated lyric poet long before the publication of his Poems in 1645. Despite his eloquent efforts to placate both Oliver Cromwell and Charles II, Waller was forced into exile for nearly a decade. His highly refined work, particularly his heroic couplets, were much admired by Alexander Pope and John Dryden.

Continue reading this biography