Analysis of Monody On Henry Headley
William Lisle Bowles 1762 (King's Sutton) – 1850
To every gentle Muse in vain allied,
In youth's full early morning HEADLEY died!
Too long had sickness left her pining trace,
With slow, still touch, on each decaying grace:
Untimely sorrow marked his thoughtful mien!
Despair upon his languid smile was seen!
Yet Resignation, musing on the grave,
(When now no hope could cheer, no pity save),
And Virtue, that scarce felt its fate severe,
And pale Affection, dropping soft a tear
For friends beloved, from whom she soon must part,
Breathed a sad solace on his aching heart.
Nor ceased he yet to stray, where, winding wild,
The Muse's path his drooping steps beguiled,
Intent to rescue some neglected rhyme,
Lone-blooming, from the mournful waste of time;
And cull each scattered sweet, that seemed to smile
Like flowers upon some long-forsaken pile.
Far from the murmuring crowd, unseen, he sought
Each charm congenial to his saddened thought.
When the gray morn illumed the mountain's side,
To hear the sweet birds' earliest song he hied;
When meekest eve to the fold's distant bell
Listened, and bade the woods and vales farewell,
Musing in tearful mood, he oft was seen
The last that lingered on the fading green.
The waving wood high o'er the cliff reclined,
The murmuring waterfall, the winter's wind,
His temper's trembling texture seemed to suit;
As airs of sadness the responsive lute.
Yet deem not hence the social spirit dead,
Though from the world's hard gaze his feelings fled:
Firm was his friendship, and his faith sincere,
And warm as Pity's his unheeded tear,
That wept the ruthless deed, the poor man's fate,
By fortune's storms left cold and desolate.
Farewell! yet be this humble tribute paid
To all his virtues, from that social shade
Where once we sojourned. I, alas! remain
To mourn the hours of youth, yet mourn in vain,
That fled neglected. Wisely thou hast trod
The better path; and that High Meed, which GOD
Ordained for Virtue towering from the dust,
Shall bless thy labours, spirit pure and just!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEFGGHHIIJJKKAALLCCMMNNOOEFPQRRSSTTUU |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11001010101 0111010101 1111010101 1111110101 0101011101 0101110111 101010101 1111111101 0101111101 0101010101 1101111111 1011011101 1111111101 011110101 0111010101 1101010111 0111011111 11001110101 11010010111 1101011101 101110101 11011100111 111101101 100101011 1001011111 0111010101 01011100101 0100100101 1110010111 1111000101 1111010101 1101111101 1111001101 011110101 1101010111 1101110100 111110101 1111011101 111110101 11010111101 1101010111 0101011111 01110100101 111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,943 |
Words | 339 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 44 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,560 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 337 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:45 min read
- 133 Views
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"Monody On Henry Headley" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40895/monody-on-henry-headley>.
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