Analysis of Horace, Book I. Ode IX.

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



Seest thou yon mountain laden with deep snow,
The groves beneath their fleecy burden bow,
The streams congeal'd, forget to flow,
Come, thaw the cold, and lay a cheerful pile
Of fuel on the hearth;
Broach the best cask and make old winter smile
With seasonable mirth.

This be our part -- let Heaven dispose the rest;
If Jove command, the winds shall sleep,
That now wage war upon the foamy deep,
And gentle gales spring from the balmy west.

E'en let us shift to-morrow as we may,
When to-morrow's passed away,
We at least shall have to say,
We have lived another day;
Your auburn locks will soon be silver'd o'er,
Old age is at our heels, and youth returns no more.


Scheme AXABXBX CDDC EEEEXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010111 0101110101 01010111 1101010101 110101 1011011101 110001 111011100101 11010111 1111010101 0101110101 11111110111 111101 1111111 1110101 1101111110 1111101010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 656
Words 125
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 4, 6
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 171
Words per stanza (avg) 41
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
57

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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