Analysis of Ode I: The Preface



I.
On yonder verdant hilloc laid,
Where oaks and elms, a friendly shade,
O'erlook the falling stream,
O master of the Latin lyre,
Awhile with thee will i retire
From summer's noontide beam.

II.
And, lo, within my lonely bower,
The industrious bee from many a flower
Collects her balmy dews:
“For me,” she sings, “the gems are born,
“For me their silken robe adorn,
“Their fragrant breath diffuse.”

III.
Sweet murmurer! may no rude storm
This hospitable scene deform,
Nor check thy gladsome toils;
Still may the buds unsullied spring,
Still showers and sunshine court thy wing
To these ambrosial spoils.

IV.
Nor shall my Muse hereafter fail
Her fellow-labourer thee to hail;
And lucky be the strains!
For long ago did nature frame
Your seasons and your arts the same,
Your pleasures and your pains.

V.
Like thee, in lowly, sylvan scenes,
On river-banks and flowery greens
My Muse delighted plays;
Nor through the desart of the air,
Though swans or eagles triumph there,
With fond ambition strays.

VI.
Nor where the boding raven chaunts,
Nor near the owl's unhallow'd haunts
Will she her cares imploy;
But flies from ruins and from tombs,
From superstition's horrid glooms,
To day-light and to joy.

VII.
Nor will she tempt the barren waste;
Nor deigns the lurking strength to taste
Of any noxious thing;
But leaves with scorn to envy's use
The insipid nightshade's baneful juice,
The nettle's sordid sting.

VIII.
From all which nature fairest knows,
The vernal blooms, the summer rose,
She draws her blameless wealth;
And, when the generous task is done,
She consecrates a double boon,
To pleasure and to health.


Scheme ABBCDDC AEEFGGF AHHIJJI KLLMNNM KOOPQQP AFXLXFX KRRJFXJ KSSTXXT
Poetic Form
Metre 1 1101011 11010101 10101 11010101 01111101 11011 1 010111010 001001110010 010101 11110111 11110101 110101 1 111111 1110011 11111 11010101 11001111 110101 1 11110101 0101111 010101 11011101 11001101 110011 1 11010101 110101001 110101 1101101 11110101 110101 1 1101101 110111 11011 11110011 11101 111011 1 11110101 11010111 110101 1111111 01111 01101 1 11110101 01010101 110101 010100111 110101 110011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,576
Words 278
Sentences 19
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 56
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 158
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:25 min read
66

Mark Akenside

Mark Akenside was an English poet and physician. more…

All Mark Akenside poems | Mark Akenside Books

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