Analysis of The Hind and the Panther: Part I (excerpts)
John Dryden 1631 (Aldwincle) – 1631 (London)
A milk-white Hind, immortal and unchang'd,
Fed on the lawns, and in the forest rang'd;
Without unspotted, innocent within,
She fear'd no danger, for she knew no sin.
Yet had she oft been chas'd with horns and hounds
And Scythian shafts; and many winged wounds
Aim'd at her heart; was often forc'd to fly,
And doom'd to death, though fated not to die.
Not so her young; for their unequal line
Was hero's make, half human, half divine.
Their earthly mold obnoxious was to fate,
Th' immortal part assum'd immortal state.
Of these a slaughter'd army lay in blood,
Extended o'er the Caledonian wood,
Their native walk; whose vocal blood arose,
And cried for pardon on their perjur'd foes.
Their fate was fruitful, and the sanguine seed,
Endued with souls, increas'd the sacred breed.
So captive Israel multiplied in chains,
A numerous exile, and enjoy'd her pains.
With grief and gladness mix'd, their mother view'd
Her martyr'd offspring, and their race renew'd;
Their corps to perish, but their kind to last,
So much the deathless plant the dying fruit surpass'd.
Panting and pensive now she rang'd alone,
And wander'd in the kingdoms, once her own.
The common hunt, tho' from their rage restrain'd
By sov'reign pow'r, her company disdain'd;
Grinn'd as they pass'd, and with a glaring eye
Gave gloomy signs of secret enmity.
'T is true, she bounded by, and tripp'd so light,
They had not time to take a steady sight,
For Truth has such a face and such a mien,
As to be lov'd needs only to be seen.
The bloody Bear, an Independent beast,
Unlick'd to form, in groans her hate express'd.
Among the timorous kind the Quaking Hare
Profess'd neutrality, but would not swear.
Next her the buffoon Ape, as atheists use,
Mimick'd all sects, and had his own to choose:
Still when the Lion look'd, his knees he bent,
And paid at church a courtier's compliment.
The bristled Baptist Boar, impure as he,
(But whiten'd with the foam of sanctity,)
With fat pollutions fill'd the sacred place,
And mountains levell'd in his furious race:
So first rebellion founded was in grace.
But since the mighty ravage which he made
In German forests had his guilt betray'd,
With broken tusks, and with a borrow'd name,
He shunn'd the vengeance, and conceal'd the shame;
So lurk'd in sects unseen. With greater guile
False Reynard fed on consecrated spoil:
The graceless beast by Athanasius first
Was chas'd from Nice; then, by Socinus nurs'd,
His impious race their blasphemy renew'd,
And nature's King through nature's optics view'd.
Revers'd, they view'd him lessen'd to their eye,
Nor in an infant could a God descry:
New swarming sects to this obliquely tend,
Hence they began, and here they all will end.
What weight of ancient witness can prevail,
If private reason hold the public scale?
But, gracious God, how well dost thou provide
For erring judgments an unerring guide!
Thy throne is darkness in th' abyss of light,
A blaze of glory that forbids the sight.
O teach me to believe Thee thus conceal'd,
And search no farther than Thyself reveal'd;
But her alone for my director take,
Whom Thou hast promis'd never to forsake!
My thoughtless youth was wing'd with vain desires,
My manhood, long misled by wand'ring fires,
Follow'd false lights; and when their glimpse was gone,
My pride struck out new sparkles of her own.
Such was I, such by nature still I am,
Be thine the glory, and be mine the shame.
Good life be now my task: my doubts are done:
(What more could fright my faith, than Three in One?)
Can I believe eternal God could lie
Disguis'd in mortal mould and infancy?
That the great Maker of the world could die?
And after that trust my imperfect sense
Which calls in question his omnipotence?
Can I my reason to my faith compel,
And shall my sight, and touch, and taste rebel?
Superior faculties are set aside,
Shall their subservient organs be my guide?
Then let the moon usurp the rule of day,
And winking tapers show the sun his way;
For what my senses can themselves perceive,
I need no revelation to believe.
...
The Panther, sure the noblest, next the Hind,
And fairest creature of the spotted kind;
Oh, could her inborn stains be wash'd away,
She were too good to be a beast of prey!
How can I praise, or blame, and not offend,
Or how divide the frailty fro
Scheme | AABBXXCC DDEEXXFFGGHHIIJJ KKLLCMNNOO XXPPXXQQ MMRRRSSTTXXUUIICPVV WWXXNNYYZZ1 1 XKXT2 2 CMCXXXXXX3 3 4 4 5 5 3 3 VX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111010001 1101000101 01110001 1111011111 1111111101 0100101011 1101110111 0111110111 1101110101 1101110101 1101010111 110101010101 1101010101 01010001001 1101110101 0111011101 1111000101 0111010101 1101001001 0100100101 110111101 010101101 1111011111 11011010101 1001011101 0100010101 0101111101 1111010001 1111010101 1101110100 11111010111 1111110101 1111010101 1111110111 010110101 111010101 01010010101 0101001111 10001111001 1011011111 1101011111 011101100 0101010111 111011100 11110101 01010011001 1101010101 1101010111 0101011101 110101011 1101000101 1101011101 110111001 0101111 11111111 10101110001 0101110101 0111110111 101101011 1101110101 1101011111 1111010101 1101010101 1101111101 11010111 111100110111 0111010101 1111011101 011101101 1001110101 1111010101 11011111010 1110111110 1011011111 1111110101 1111110111 1101001101 1111111111 1111111101 1101010111 0101010100 1011010111 0101110101 1101010100 1111011101 0111010110 01001001101 11010010111 110110111 0101010111 1111010101 111010101 1 0101010101 0101010101 110111101 1011110111 1111110101 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,376 |
Words | 750 |
Sentences | 34 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 16, 10, 8, 19, 31, 7 |
Lines Amount | 99 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 471 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 107 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 4:03 min read
- 73 Views
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"The Hind and the Panther: Part I (excerpts)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22718/the-hind-and-the-panther%3A-part-i-%28excerpts%29>.
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