Analysis of Ode X: To Thomas Edwards, Esquire: On The Late Edition Of Mr. Pope's Work

Mark Akenside 1721 (Newcastle upon Tyne) – 1770



I.
Believe me, Edwards, to restrain
The licence of a railer's tongue
Is what but seldom men obtain
By sense or wit, by prose or song:
A task for more Herculean powers,
Nor suited to the sacred hours
Of leisure in the Muse's bowers.

II.
In bowers where laurel weds with palm,
The Muse, the blameless queen, resides:
Fair fame attends, and wisdom calm
Her eloquence harmonious guides:
While, shut for ever from her gate,
Oft trying, still repining, wait
Fierce envy and calumnious hate.

III.
Who then from her delightful bounds
Would step one moment forth to heed
What impotent and savage sounds
From their unhappy mouths proceed?
No: rather Spenser's lyre again
Prepare, and let thy pious strain
For Pope's dishonor'd shade complain.

IV.
Tell how displeas'd was every bard,
When lately in the Elysian grove
They of his Muse's guardian heard,
His delegate to fame above;
And what with one accord they said
Of wit in drooping age misled,
And Warburton's officious aid:

V.
How Virgil mourn'd the sordid fate
To that melodious lyre assign'd
Beneath a tutor who so late
With Midas and his rout combin'd
By spiteful clamor to confound
That very lyre's enchanting sound,
Though listening realms admir'd around:

VI.
How Horace own'd he thought the fire
Of his friend Pope's satiric line
Did farther fuel scarce require
From such a militant divine:
How Milton scorn'd the sophist vain
Who durst approach his hallow'd strain
With unwash'd hands and lips profane.

VII.
Then Shakespear debonnair and mild
Brought that strange comment forth to view;
Conceits more deep, he said and smil'd,
Than his own fools or madmen knew:
But thank'd a generous friend above,
Who did with free adventurous love
Such pageants from his tomb remove.

VIII.
And if to Pope, in equal need,
The same kind office thou would'st pay,
Then, Edwards, all the band decreed
That future bards with frequent lay
Should call on thy auspicious name,
From each absurd intruder's claim
To keep inviolate their fame.


Scheme ABXBXCCC ADEDEFFF AGHGHXBB IXIXIJJX IFKFKLLL AMNMNBBB IOIOXIII IHPHPQQQ
Poetic Form
Metre 1 01110101 0101011 11110101 11111111 0111010010 110101010 11000110 1 010110111 01010101 11010101 010001001 11110101 110111 110011 1 11100101 11110111 11000101 11010101 11010101 01011101 11010101 1 110111001 1100011 11111001 1101101 01110111 11010101 0111 1 11010101 110100101 01010111 11001101 11010101 11010101 1100101001 1 110111010 11110101 11010110 11010001 1101011 11011101 10110101 1 11101 11110111 1111101 11111101 110100101 111101001 11011101 1 01110101 011101111 11010101 11011101 11110101 110111 11010011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,912
Words 337
Sentences 16
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 64
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 195
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:47 min read
44

Mark Akenside

Mark Akenside was an English poet and physician. more…

All Mark Akenside poems | Mark Akenside Books

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    "Ode X: To Thomas Edwards, Esquire: On The Late Edition Of Mr. Pope's Work" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26522/ode-x%3A-to-thomas-edwards%2C-esquire%3A-on-the-late-edition-of-mr.-pope%27s-work>.

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