Analysis of To The Rev. Mr. Newton : An Invitation Into The Country

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



The swallows in their torpid state
Compose their useless wing,
And bees in hives as idly wait
The call of early spring.

The keenest frost that binds the stream,
The wildest wind that blows,
Are neither felt nor fear'd by them,
Secure of their repose.

But man, all feeling and awake,
The gloomy scene surveys;
With present ills his heart must ache,
And pant for brighter days.

Old winter, halting o'er the mead,
Bids me and Mary mourn;
But lovely spring peeps o'er his head,
And whispers your return.

Then April, with her sister May,
Shall chase him from the bow'rs,
And weave fresh garlands ev'ry day,
To crown the smiling hours.

And, if a tear, that speaks regret
Of happier times, appear,
A glimpse of joy, that we have met,
Shall shine, and dry the tear.


Scheme ABAB XCXC DEDE XXXX FCFX GXGX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (67%)
Metre 01001101 011101 01011101 011101 01011101 010111 11011111 011101 11110001 010101 11011111 011101 110101001 110101 110111011 010101 11010101 111101 011111 1101010 01011101 1100101 01111111 110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 742
Words 139
Sentences 7
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 98
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
53

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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