Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham — Edition Insights

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Authors: Waller, Edmund, 1606-1687, Denham, John, Sir, 1615-1669, Gilfillan, George, 1813-1878 [Contributor] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2004 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Poetry Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 88,015

Reading time 383 min

Text sections 10

Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham — Edition Insights can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 88,015 words, 6 hr 23 min estimated reading time, and 10 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 26.0 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Poetry,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #12322

This edition pairs Edmund Waller's polished, urbane verse with Sir John Denham's reflective, topographical poetry, introduced by George Gilfillan's biographical memoir. The collection showcases contrasting Restoration-era voices: Waller's courtly panegyrics and love lyrics, Denham's moralizing and descriptive pieces, with Gilfillan's commentary framing their lives and literary contexts.

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Text length15 pts
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File: pg12322

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Beaconsfield was burnt down, and no trace of it is now, we believe, extant.

Mrs. Waller's brother, William, was the father of John Hampden. His wife, Elizabeth Cromwell, the aunt of the great Oliver, was, however, and continued to the end, a violent Royalist; and Cromwell, although he treated both her and her son with kindness, and on the terms of their relationship, was so provoked at hearing that she carried on a secret correspondence with the Stewart party, that he confined her under a very strict watch in the house of her daughter, Mrs. Price, whose husband was on the side of the Parliament. It is exceedingly probable that from the "mother's milk" of early prejudice was derived that spirit of partisanship which distinguished alike the writings and the life of the poet. It is possible, too, that contact with men so far above moral heroism and rugged mental force as Cromwell and Hampden, instead of exciting emulation, led to envy, and that his divergence from their political path sprung more from personal feeling than from principle.

He was educated, first, at the grammar school of Market, Wickham; then at Eton; and, in fine, at King's College, Cambridge. Accounts vary as to his proficiency--one Bigge, who had been his school-fellow at Wickham, told Aubrey that he never expected Waller to have become such an eminent poet, and that he used to write his exercises for him. Others, on the contrary, have alleged that it was the fame of his scholarship which led to his election for Agmondesham, a borough in Bucks, when he was only sixteen years of age. This story, so far as his premature learning goes, seems rather apocryphal; but certain it is, that when scarcely eighteen, he had become M.P. for the above-mentioned borough. The parliament in which he found himself, was one of those subservient and cringing assemblies which James I. was wont to summon to sit till they had voted the supplies, and then contemptuously to dismiss. It met in November 1621, and after passing a resolution in support of their privileges, which James tore out of the Journals with his own hand, and granting the usual supplies, was dissolved on the 6th of January 1622. Waller was probably as silent and servile as any of his neighbours. He began, however, to feel his way as a courtier, and overheard some curious and not very canonical talk of James with his lords and bishops, the record of which reminds you of some of the richer scenes of the "Fortunes of Nigel." The next parliament was not called till 1624, when Waller was not elected. The electors of Agmondesham, who had, meantime, obtained fuller privileges, chose two matured members to represent them, and the precocious boy lost his seat.

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The volume opens with a memoir that immediately distinguishes Waller's life as unusually readable for a poet's, citing his involvement in political plotting and near-execution. Gilfillan's biographical framing sets a tone of moral and historical assessment, contrasting the poets' outward careers with their inner lives. The poetry itself reveals a sharp shift in voice: Waller's verses to royalty and Chloris employ polished couplets and mythological allusion, while Denham's religious and topographical works adopt a more discursive, reflective mode. The editorial apparatus, including footnotes identifying figures like the Duchess of Orleans, anchors the poems in specific historical moments.

Waller's Courtly Address and Metrical Control

Waller's poems in this collection are dominated by direct addresses to monarchs and nobles, deploying a consistent rhetorical strategy of flattery through classical parallel. In To the King, he compares Charles II to Jove, claiming that had the Greeks known Britain, they would have placed the thunderer's cradle there. The verse moves through a series of balanced couplets, each line tightly end-stopped, creating a measured, ceremonial pace. The address to the Duchess of Orleans employs a more personal tone, lamenting her departure with the line 'Sighs will not let us half our sorrows tell,' yet the emotional effect is tempered by the formal structure. Waller's control of meter and rhyme is evident throughout, with few enjambments; the regularity reinforces the sense of decorum and control. The footnotes reveal that many poems respond to specific political events, such as the Duchess's 1670 mission, grounding the polished surface in real-world occasion.

Denham's Reflective and Moralizing Strain

Denham's contributions, though fewer in the excerpts, show a markedly different voice. The opening of A Religious Book adopts a defensive, almost sardonic tone: 'Bold is the man that dares engage / For piety in such an age!' The lines are more conversational, with enjambment and a looser rhythmic structure than Waller's. Denham uses the poem to argue for the value of religious writing by a person of high birth, suggesting that such authors 'feeling first what they indite, / New credit give to ancient light.' This self-reflexive concern with the poet's authority and sincerity contrasts with Waller's outward-facing panegyric. The pace here is more deliberative, with longer sentences and a tendency toward argument rather than praise. The footnotes identify the subject as Lord Berkeley, indicating Denham's engagement with contemporary religious debate and his use of poetry as a vehicle for moral persuasion.

Gilfillan's Biographical Lens and Editorial Voice

George Gilfillan's memoir and dissertation frame the poets' works with a distinctly Victorian moral sensibility. He asserts that poets' lives are often uninteresting, yet Waller's is an exception due to his 'political plotting' and near-gallows experience. Gilfillan's prose is evaluative, comparing Waller's interest to that of Byron or Gifford, and he frequently measures the poets against a standard of 'instruction' and 'entertainment.' The editorial notes, likely by Gilfillan, provide historical context for poems, such as identifying the Duchess of Orleans as Charles I's daughter. This apparatus shapes how the reader encounters the verse, emphasizing biographical and historical reference over purely aesthetic appreciation. The combination of Gilfillan's commentary and the poets' own words creates a layered reading experience, where the 19th-century editor's voice mediates the 17th-century texts.

Readers attentive to shifts in poetic voice will find this collection a study in contrasts: Waller's smooth, public-facing couplets versus Denham's more personal, argumentative lines. Gilfillan's editorial presence adds a third layer, inviting reflection on how literary reputation is constructed. The volume rewards those who read both the poems and the apparatus, tracing how historical circumstance and editorial judgment shape our understanding of these Restoration poets.

I keep thinking about how Waller’s careful verses feel like holding polished stones, and that’s oddly what lingered after Lilith — Context and Discussion — a strange weight, more felt than explained. Denham’s landscapes do something similar, quiet and layered. Some books sit with you like a held breath, not loud, just present. This one does that.