Analysis of Verses - Spoken to Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles-Harley, Countess of Oxford
Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721
Madam, Since Anna visited the muse's seat,
(Around her tomb let weeping angels wait)
Hail, thou, the brightest of thy sex, and best,
Most gracious neighbour and most welcome guest:
Not Harley's self, to Cam and Isis dear,
In virtues and in arts great Oxford's heir,
Not he such present honour shall receive
As to his consort we aspire to give.
Writings of men our thought to-day neglects,
To pay due homage to the softer sex:
Plato and Tully we forbear to read,
And their great followers whom this house has bred,
To study lessons from thy morals given,
And shining characters impress'd by Heaven.
Science in books no longer we pursue,
Minerva's self in Harriet's face we view;
For when with Beauty we can Virtue join,
We paint the semblance of a form divine.
Their pious incense let our neighbours bring
To the kind memory of some bounteous king:
With grateful hand due altars let them raise
To some good knight's or holy prelate's praise;
We tune our voices to a nobler theme,
Your eyes we bless, your praises we proclaim;
Saint John's was founded in a woman's name.
Enjoin'd by statute, to the fair we bow;
In spite of time we keep our ancient vow;
What Marg'ret Tudor was, in Harriet Harley now.
Scheme | XXAAXXXX XXBBCCDDXX EEFFXGGHHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10110100011 0101110101 1101011101 110101101 1101110101 0100011101 111101101 1110110111 10111011101 1111010101 100101111 01110011111 11010111010 01010001110 1001110101 1101111 1111011101 1101010101 1100111011 1011001111 1101110111 111111011 11101010101 1111110101 1111000101 0111010111 01111110101 111010100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,180 |
Words | 217 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 313 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 37 Views
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"Verses - Spoken to Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles-Harley, Countess of Oxford" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27487/verses---spoken-to-lady-henrietta-cavendish-holles-harley%2C-countess-of-oxford>.
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