Analysis of Ode VIII: If Rightly Tuneful Bards Decide
Mark Akenside 1721 (Newcastle upon Tyne) – 1770
I.
If rightly tuneful bards decide,
If it be fix'd in love's decrees,
That beauty ought not to be tried
But by its native power to please,
Then tell me, youths and lovers, tell,
What fair can Amoret excell?
II.
Behold that bright unsullied smile,
And wisdom speaking in her mien:
Yet (she so artless all the while,
So little studious to be seen)
We nought but instant gladness know,
Nor think to whom the gift we owe.
III.
But neither music, nor the powers
Of youth and mirth and frolick cheer,
Add half that sunshine to the hours,
Or make life's prospect half so clear,
As memory brings it to the eye
From scenes where Amoret was by.
IV.
Yet not a satirist could there
Or fault or indiscretion find;
Nor any prouder sage declare
One virtue, pictur'd in his mind,
Whose form with lovelier colours glows
Than Amoret's demeanor shows.
V.
This sure is beauty's happiest part:
This gives the most unbounded sway:
This shall inchant the subject heart
When rose and lily fade away;
And she be still, in spite of time,
Sweet Amoret in all her prime.
Scheme | ABCBCDD AEFEFGG AHIHIAA JKLKLMM JNONOPP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (29%) |
Metre | 1 1101011 11110101 11011111 111101011 11110101 11111 1 01110101 01010001 1111101 110100111 1111011 11110111 1 110101010 1101011 11111010 11110111 110011101 111111 1 11010011 1110101 11010101 11010011 111111 110101 1 11111001 11010101 1110011 11010101 01110111 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,017 |
Words | 193 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 162 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 108 Views
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"Ode VIII: If Rightly Tuneful Bards Decide" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26519/ode-viii%3A-if-rightly-tuneful-bards-decide>.
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