Analysis of Epilogue To A Comedy Acted At Bath,

Mary Barber 1685 – 1755



Ladies, this Entertainment we have shown,
Has not been rightly suited, I must own.
Heroic Virtue should have been display'd,
And Homage to heroic Virtue paid.
Low Comedy supplies but mean Delight;
Some Heroine should have grac'd our Scenes Tonight,
First Fortune's Favours, then her Frowns to feel,
Unmov'd, unshaken, on her tott'ring Wheel;
With Wisdom blest by Heav'n's peculiar Care,
Too great to be elated, or despair;
A lovely Form, and an excelling Mind,
To all that Providence ordains, resign'd;
Rever'd by All, Delight of ev'ry Eye,
Humane and humble, when exalted high;
From Princes sprung, and gloriously ally'd,
At once her Sex's, and her Country's Pride;
Whose Soul, superior to all earthly State,
Shines with new Lustre 'midst the Storms of Fate.

Then had the Audience wept her Woes anew,
And own'd the Poet was prophetic too;
Foresaw Plantagenet's imperial Race
Would such a Heroine give us, in Your Grace.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGBXHH IIJJ
Poetic Form
Metre 101010111 1111010111 0101011101 0101010101 1100011101 110011110101 110110111 010101011 1101110101 1111010101 0101010101 111100101 011101111 0101010101 1101010001 110100101 11010011101 1111010111 11010010101 0101010101 1101001 11010011011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 907
Words 154
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 18, 4
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 359
Words per stanza (avg) 76
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
131

Mary Barber

Mary Barber, poet, was a member of Swift's circle. more…

All Mary Barber poems | Mary Barber Books

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