Edmund Waller, Of My Lady Isabella Playing on the Lute

Recorded in July 2020. First published in 1645, in the Works of Edmund Waller.

Lord Chesterfield wrote the following letter, in 1739, to his seven-year-old son:

“I will give you, here, a very pretty copy of verses of Mr Waller's, which is extremely poetical, and full of images. It is to a lady who played upon the lute… Mind all the poetical beauties of these verses. He supposes the sounds of the strings, when she touches them, to be the expression of their joy for kissing her fingers. Then, he compares the trembling of the strings to the trembling of a lover, who is supposed to tremble with joy and awe, when touched by the person he loves. He represents Love, (who, you know, is described as a little boy, with a bow, arrows, and a quiver,) as standing by her, and shooting his arrows at people's hearts, while her music softens and disarms them. Then he concludes with that fine simile of Nero, a very cruel Roman emperor, who set Rome on fire, and played on the harp while it was burning: for, as Love is represented by the poets as fire and flames; so she, while people were burning for love of her, played, as Nero did, while Rome, which he had set on fire, was burning. Pray get these verses by heart against I see you. Adieu.”

[N. b.: Although this poem was first published in 1645, this version is that of the posthumous works of 1686; where, instead of “o’er _the_ spirit reigns,” it says, “o’er _our_ spirits reigns.” This reading is preferable; because, otherwise, the metre is deficient, and the voice’s stress is made to fall upon a feeble preposition.]