Analysis of By Moschus
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
I slept when Venus enter'd: to my bed
A Cupid in her beauteous hand she led,
A bashful seeming boy, and thus she said:
'Shepherd, receive my little one! I bring
An untaught love, whom thou must teach to sing.'
She said, and left him. I, suspecting nought,
Many a sweet strain my subtle pupil taught,
How reed to reed Pan first with osier bound,
How Pallas form'd the pipe of softest sound,
How Hermes gave the lute, and how the quire
Of Phoebus owe to Phoebus' self the lyre.
Such were my themes; my themes nought heeded he
But ditties sang of amorous sort to me.
The pangs that mortals and immortals prove
From Venus' influence and the darts of love.
Thus was the teacher by the pupil taught;
His lessons I retain'd, he mine forgot.
Scheme | AAABBACDDEEFFGHCI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010111 010001111 0101010111 1001110111 111111111 1101110101 10011110101 111111111 1101011101 1101010101 1101110101 1011111101 11011100111 0111000101 11010000111 1101010101 1101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 725 |
Words | 140 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 17 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 567 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 137 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 52 Views
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"By Moschus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39823/by-moschus>.
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