Analysis of An Occasional Prologue, Delivered Previous To The Performance Of 'The Wheel Of Fortune' At A Private Theatre
George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)
Since the refinement of this polish'd age
Has swept irnmortal raillery from the stage;
Since taste has now expunged licentious wit,
Which stamp'd disgrace on all an author writ;
Since now to please with purer scenes we seek,
Nor dare to call the blush from Beauty's cheek;
Oh! let the modest Muse some pity claim,
And meet indulgence, though she find not fame.
Still, not for her alone we wish respect,
Others appear more conscious of defect;
To-night no veteran Roscii you behold,
In all the arts of scenic action old;
No Cooke, no Kemble, can salute you here,
No Siddons draw the sympathetic tear;
To-night you throng to witness the début
Of embryo actors, to the Drama new:
Here, then, our almost unfledged wings we try;
Clip not our pinions ere the birds can fly:
Failing in this our first attempt to soar,
Drooping, alas! we fall to rise no more.
Not one poor trembler only fear betrays
Who hopes, yet almost dreads, to meet your praise,
But all our dramatis personæ wait
In fond suspense this crisis of their fate.
No venal views our prosress can retard,
Your generous plaudits are our sole reward.
For these, each Hero all his power displays,
Each timid Heroine shrinks before your gaze.
Surely the last will some protection find;
None to the softer sex can prove unkind
While Youth and Beauty form the female shield,
The sternest censor to the fair must yield.
Yet, should our feeble efforts nought avail,
Should, after all, our best endeavours fail,
Still let some mercy in your bosoms live,
And, if you can't applaud, at le'st forgive.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGHIJKKLLMMNNOPMMQQRRSSTU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001011101 1111101 1111010101 1101111101 1111110111 111101111 1101011101 0101011111 1110011101 1001110110 1111001101 0101110101 1111010111 110100101 1111110011 1101010101 111011111 1110110111 10011010111 1001111111 111110101 111111111 11101101 0101110111 1101101101 110010110101 11110111001 11010010111 1001110101 1101011101 110101011 0101010111 11101010101 110110111 111100111 01110110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,524 |
Words | 274 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 36 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,216 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 272 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
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"An Occasional Prologue, Delivered Previous To The Performance Of 'The Wheel Of Fortune' At A Private Theatre" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15035/an-occasional-prologue%2C-delivered-previous-to-the-performance-of-%27the-wheel-of-fortune%27-at-a-private-theatre>.
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