Analysis of To The Rev. Mr. Newton, Rector Of St. Mary Woolnoth
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Says the Pipe to the Snuff-box, 'I can't understand
What the ladies and gentlemen see in your face,
That you are in fashion all over the land,
And I am so much fallen into disgrace.
'Do but see what a pretty contemplative air
I give to the company,—pray do but note 'em,—
You would think that the wise men of Greece were all there,
Or, at least, would suppose them the wise men of Gotham.
'My breath is as sweet as the breath of blown roses,
While you are a nuisance where'er you appear;
There is nothing but snivelling and blowing of noses,
Such a noise as turns any man's stomach to hear.'
Then, lifting his lid in a delicate way,
And opening his mouth with a smile quite engaging.
The Box in reply was heard plainly to say,
'What a silly dispute is this we are Waging!
'If you have a little of merit to claim,
You may thank the sweet-smelling Virginian weed;
And I, if I seem to deserve any blame,
The before-mentioned drug in apology plead.
'Thus neither the praise nor the blame is our own,
No room for a sneer, much less a cachinnus;
We are vehicles, not of tobacco alone,
But of anything else they may choose to put in us.'
Scheme | ABAB CXCX DXDX EFEF GHGH IBIX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) |
Metre | 10110111101 101001001011 11101011001 01111100101 111101001001 111010011111 111101111011 1111011011110 111111011110 11101010101 111011010110 101111011011 11011001001 0100111011010 01001111011 101001111110 11101011011 11101100101 01111101101 001101001001 110011011101 111011101 11100110101 111011111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,119 |
Words | 222 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 145 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 89 Views
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"To The Rev. Mr. Newton, Rector Of St. Mary Woolnoth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40232/to-the-rev.-mr.-newton%2C-rector-of-st.-mary-woolnoth>.
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