Analysis of Ode III: To A Friend, Unsuccessful In Love
Mark Akenside 1721 (Newcastle upon Tyne) – 1770
I.
Indeed, my Phædria, if to find
That wealth can female wishes gain
Had e'er disturb'd your thoughtful mind,
Or cost one serious moment's pain,
I should have said that all the rules,
You learn'd of moralists and schools,
Were very useless, very vain.
II.
Yet I perhaps mistake the case—
Say, though with this heroic air,
Like one that holds a nobler chace,
You try the tender loss to bear,
Does not your heart renounce your tongue?
Seems not my censure strangely wrong
To count it such a slight affair?
III.
When Hesper gilds the shaded sky,
Oft as you seek the well-known grove,
Methinks I see you cast your eye
Back to the morning scenes of love:
Each pleasing word you heard her say,
Her gentle look, her graceful way,
Again your struggling fancy move.
IV.
Then tell me, is your soul intire?
Does wisdom calmly hold her throne?
Then can you question each desire,
Bid this remain, and that begone?
No tear half-starting from your eye?
No kindling blush you know not why?
No stealing sigh, nor stifled groan?
Away with this unmanly mood!
V.
See where the hoary churl appears,
Whose hand hath seiz'd the favorite good
Which you reserv'd for happier years:
While, side by side, the blushing maid
Shrinks from his visage, half-afraid,
Spite of the sickly joy she wears.
VI.
Ye guardian powers of love and fame,
This chaste, harmonious pair behold;
And thus reward the generous flame
Of all who barter vows for gold.
O bloom of youth, o tender charms
Well-buried in a dotard's arms!
O equal price of beauty sold!
VII.
Cease then to gaze with looks of love:
Bid her adieu, the venal fair:
Unworthy she your bliss to prove;
Then wherefore should she prove your care?
No: lay your myrtle garland down;
And let awhile the willow's crown
With luckier omens bind your hair.
VIII.
O just escap'd the faithless main,
Though driven unwilling on the land;
To guide your favor'd steps again,
Behold your better genius stand:
Where truth revolves her page divine,
Where virtue leads to honor's shrine,
Behold, he lifts his awful hand.
IX.
Fix but on these your ruling aim,
And time, the sire of manly care,
Will fancy's dazzling colors tame
A soberer dress will beauty wear:
Then shall esteem by knowledge led
Inthrone within your heart and head
Some happier love, some truer fair.
Scheme | ABCBCDDC AEFEFXXF AAGAHIIJ GFKXCAAKX XLXLMMX ANONOPPO GHFJFQQF GCRXRSSR DNFNFTTF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 011111111 1111101 110011101 111100101 11111101 11110001 01010101 1 11010101 11110101 11110101 11010111 11110111 11110101 11110101 1 11010101 11110111 1111111 11010111 11011101 01010101 011100101 1 1111111 11010101 111101010 1101011 11110111 11011111 11011101 011111 1 11010101 111101001 110111001 11110101 11110101 11010111 1 1100101101 110100101 010101001 11110111 11111101 1100011 11011101 1 11111111 10010101 01011111 1111111 11110101 0101011 110010111 1 1101011 110010101 11110101 01110101 11010101 11011101 01111101 1 11111101 010101101 11100101 0111101 11011101 1011101 110011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,208 |
Words | 404 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 9, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 197 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:04 min read
- 122 Views
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"Ode III: To A Friend, Unsuccessful In Love" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26504/ode-iii%3A-to-a-friend%2C-unsuccessful-in-love>.
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