Analysis of To The Memory Of Mr Oldham
John Dryden 1631 (Aldwincle) – 1631 (London)
Farewell, too little and too lately known,
Whom I began to think and call my own;
For sure our souls were near allied, and thine
Cast in the same poetic mould with mine.
One common note on either lyre did strike,
And knaves and fools we both abhorred alike.
To the same goal did both our studies drive;
The last set out the soonest did arrive.
Thus Nisus fell upon the slippery place,
While his young friend performed and won the race.
O early ripe! to thy abundant store
What could advancing age have added more?
It might (what Nature never gives the young)
Have taught the numbers of thy native tongue.
But satire needs not those, and wit will shine
Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line.
A noble error, and but seldom made,
When poets are by too much force betrayed.
Thy generous fruits, though gathered ere their prime,
Still showed a quickness; and maturing time
But mellows what we write to the dull sweets of rhyme.
Once more, hail and farewell! farewell, thou young,
But ah too short, Marcellus of our tongue!
Thy brows with ivy and with laurels bound;
But fate and gloomy night encompass thee around.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGBBHHIIIGGJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111001101 1101110111 11101010101 1001010111 1101110111 0101110101 10111110101 0111010101 1110101001 1111010101 1101110101 1101011101 1111010101 1101011101 1101110111 1011010101 0101001101 1101111101 11001110111 1101000101 11111101111 11101111 11110101101 1111001101 110101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,098 |
Words | 204 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 880 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 202 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 118 Views
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