Analysis of An Invective Against Gold
Anne Killigrew 1660 (London) – 1685 (London)
OF all the Poisons that the fruitful Earth
E'er yet brought forth, or Monsters she gave Birth,
Nought to Mankind has e'er so fatal been,
As thou, accursed Gold, their Care and Sin.
Methinks I the Advent'rous Merchant see,
Ploughing the faithless Seas, in search of thee,
His dearest Wife and Children left behind,
(His real Wealth) while he, a Slave to th' Wind,
Sometimes becalm'd, the Shore with longing Eyes
Wishes to see, and what he wishes, Spies:
For a rude Tempest wakes him from his Dream,
And Strands his Bark by a more sad Extream.
Thus, hopless Wretch, is his whole Life-time spent,
And though thrice Wreck't, 's no Wiser than he went.
Again, I see, the Heavenly Fair despis'd,
A Hagg like Hell, with Gold, more highly priz'd;
Mens Faith betray'd, their Prince and Country Sold,
Their God deny'd, all for the Idol Gold.
Unhappy Wretch, who first found out the Oar,
What kind of Vengeance rests for thee in store?
If Nebats Son, that Israel led astray,
Meet a severe Reward at the last Day?
Some strange unheard-of Judgement thou wilt find,
Who thus hast caus'd to Sin all Humane Kind.
Scheme | AABB CCDDEEFFGG HHII JJKKDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010101 10111110111 11111101101 11111101 1101101 10110111 1101010101 11111011111 0101011101 1011011101 1011011111 011110111 111111111 011111110111 01110100101 0111111101 1101110101 111110101 0101111101 1111011101 1111100101 1001011011 1101110111 1111111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,102 |
Words | 197 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 10, 4, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 211 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 63 Views
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