Analysis of A Description Of The Countreys Recreations

Sir Henry Wotton 1568 (parish) – 1639 (chapel of Eton College)



Quivering fears, Heart-tearing cares,
Anxious sighs, Untimely tears,
Fly, fly to Courts,
Fly to fond worldling's sports,
Where strained Sardonic smiles are glossing still,
And grief is forced to laugh against her will,
Where mirth's but mummery,
And sorrows only real be.

Fly from our Countrey pastimes! fly,
Sad troops of humane misery;
Come serene looks,
Clear as the Crystal brooks,
Or the pure azur'd heaven, that smiles to see
The rich attendance on our poverty.
Peace and a secure mind,
(Which all men seek) we only find.

Abused Mortals! did you know
Where Joy, Hearts-ease, and comforts grow;
You'd scorn proud towers,
And seek them in these bowers,
Where winds sometimes, our woods perhaps may shake,
But blustering care could never tempest mak,
Nor murmurs e'er come nigh us.
Saving of fountains that glide by us.

Here's no fantastick Mask, nor dance,
But of our Kids, that frisk and prance:
Nor wars are seen,
Unless upon the green
Two harmless Lambs are butting one the other;
Which done, both bleating run, each to his Mother.
And wounds are never found,
Save what the Plow-share gives the ground.

Here are no false entrapping baits,
To hasten to too hasty fates;
Unless it be
The fond Credulity
Of silly fish, which worldling-like, still look
Upon the Bait, but never on the Hook:
Nor envy, uless among
The Birds, for prize of their sweet song.

Go! let the diving Negro seek
For Gems, hid in some forlorn creek;
We all Pearls scorn,
Save what the dewy morn
Congeals upon each little spire of grass;
Which careless Shepherds beat down as they pass;
And gold ne'er here appears,
Save what the yellow Ceres bears.

Blest silent Groves! ô may ye be
For ever Mirth's best Nursery!
May pure contents
For ever pitch their tents
Upon these Downs, these Meads, these Rocks, these Mountains,
And peace still slumber by these purling Fountains!
Which we may every year
Find when we come a fishing here.


Scheme AABBCCDE XDFFEEGG XDHHXXII JJKKDDLL MMEENNXX OOPPQQXA EDRRSSDD
Poetic Form
Metre 10011101 1010101 1111 11111 110101111 0111110101 1111 0101011 1110111 11101100 1011 110101 1011101111 01010110100 100011 11111101 0110111 11110101 11110 0110110 11011010111 11001110101 11010111 101101111 111111 111011101 1111 010101 11011101010 1111111110 011101 11011101 111111 11011101 0111 010100 110111111 0101110101 110101 01111111 11010101 11101011 1111 110101 101110111 1101011111 011101 11010101 1101111 11011100 1110 110111 01111111110 0111011110 1111001 11110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,881
Words 332
Sentences 17
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 56
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 213
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:42 min read
123

Sir Henry Wotton

Sir Henry Wotton was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. more…

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