Analysis of An Epistle. Desiring The Queen's Picture, But Left Unfinished, By The Sudden News Of Her Majesty's Death
Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721
The train of equipage and pomp of state,
The shining sideboard and the burnish'd plate,
Let other ministers, great Anne, require,
And partial fall thy gift to their desire.
To the fair Portrait of my sovereign dame,
To that alone eternal be my claim.
My bright defender, and my dread delight,
If ever I found favour in thy sight;
If all the pains that for thy Britain's sake
My past has took, or future life may take,
Be grateful to my Queen, permit my prayer,
And with this gift reward my total care.
Will thy indulgent hand, fair Saint, allow
The boon? and will thy ear accept the vow?
That, in despite of age, of impious flame,
And eating Time, thy Picture, like thy fame,
Entire may last, that, as their eyes survey
The semblant shade, men yet unborn may say,
Thus great, thus gracious, look'd Britannia's Queen,
Her brow thus smooth, her look was thus serene;
When to a low but to a loyal hand
The mighty Empress gave her high command,
That he to hostile camps and kings should haste,
To speak her vengeance, as their danger, past;
To say, she wills detested wars to cease;
She checks her conquest for her subjects' ease,
And bids the world attend her terms of peace.
Thee, gracious Anne, thee present I adore,
Thee, Queen of Peace -- If Time and Fate have power
Higher to raise the glories of thy reign
In words sublimer and a nobler strain,
May future bards the mighty theme rehearse!
Here, Stator Jove, and Phoebus king of verse,
The votive tablet I suspend * * * * * * * * * *
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGCCHHIIJJKLMNMOBPPQQR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110111 010100101 1101001110 01011111010 1011011101 1101010111 1101001101 110111011 1101111101 1111110111 1101110111 0111011101 1101011101 0101110101 10011110101 0101110111 01011111101 011111111 11110111 0111011101 1101110101 0101010101 1111010111 1101011101 1111010111 1101010101 0101010111 1101110101 11111101110 1011010111 01100101 1101010101 111010111 0110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,463 |
Words | 280 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 34 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,138 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 278 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:25 min read
- 101 Views
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"An Epistle. Desiring The Queen's Picture, But Left Unfinished, By The Sudden News Of Her Majesty's Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27323/an-epistle.-desiring-the-queen%27s-picture%2C-but-left-unfinished%2C-by-the-sudden-news-of-her-majesty%27s-death>.
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