Analysis of Elegy XIV: To Delia
James Hammond 1807 ( Newberry County, South Carolina) – 1864 ( Beech Island, South Carolina)
What Scenes of Bliss my raptur'd Fancy fram'd,
In some lone Spot with Peace and thee retir'd,
Tho' Reason then my sanguine Fondness blam'd,
I still believ'd what flatt'ring Love inspir'd:
But now my Wrongs have taught my humbled Mind,
To dangerous Bliss no longer to pretend,
In Books, a calm but fixt Content to find,
Safe Joys, that on our selves alone depend:
With them the gentle Moments I beguile,
In learned Ease, and elegant Delight,
Compare the Beauties of each different Stile,
Each various Ray of Wit's diffusive Light:
Now mark the Strength of Milton's sacred Lines,
Sense rais'd by Genius, Fancy rul'd by Art,
Where all the Glory of the God-head shines,
And earliest Innocence inchants the Heart.
Now fir'd by Pope and Virtue leave the Age
In low Pursuit of self-undoing Wrong,
And trace the Author thro' his moral Page,
Whose blameless Life still answers to his Song.
If Time and Books my lingring Pain can heal,
And Reason fix it's Empire o'er my Heart,
My Patriot Breast a nobler Warmth shall feel,
And glow with Love where Weakness has no part.
Thy Heart, O Lyttleton, shall be my Guide,
It's Fire shall warm me, and it's Worth improve,
Thy Heart, above all Envy, and all Pride,
Firm as Man's Sense, and soft as Woman's Love.
And you, O West, with her your Partner dear,
Whom social Mirth and useful Sense commend,
With Learning's Feast my drooping Mind shall chear,
Glad to escape from Love to such a Friend.
But why, so long my weaker Heart deceive?
Ah still I love in Pride and Reason's Spite,
No Books, alas my painful Thoughts relieve,
And while I threat, this Elegy I write.
Scheme | AXAX BCBC DEDE FGFG HIHI JGJG KXKX LCLC MEME |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (78%) |
Metre | 111111101 0111110101 1101110101 11011111010 1111111101 11001110101 0101111011 11111010101 1101010101 011010001 01010111001 110011111 110111101 1111010111 1101010111 0100100101 11011010101 0101110101 0101011101 1101110111 110111111 010111001011 11001010111 0111110111 11111111 11011101101 1101110011 1111011101 0111101101 1101010101 111110111 1101111101 1111110101 111101011 1101110101 0111110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,569 |
Words | 287 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 138 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:32 min read
- 72 Views
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"Elegy XIV: To Delia" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/43039/elegy-xiv%3A-to-delia>.
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