Analysis of Gotham - Book III
Charles Churchill 1731 (Westminster) – 1764 (Boulogne-sur-Mer)
Can the fond mother from herself depart?
Can she forget the darling of her heart,
The little darling whom she bore and bred,
Nursed on her knees, and at her bosom fed;
To whom she seem'd her every thought to give,
And in whose life alone she seem'd to live?
Yes, from herself the mother may depart,
She may forget the darling of her heart,
The little darling whom she bore and bred,
Nursed on her knees, and at her bosom fed,
To whom she seem'd her every thought to give,
And in whose life alone she seem'd to live;
But I cannot forget, whilst life remains,
And pours her current through these swelling veins,
Whilst Memory offers up at Reason's shrine;
But I cannot forget that Gotham's mine.
Can the stern mother, than the brutes more wild,
From her disnatured breast tear her young child,
Flesh of her flesh, and of her bone the bone,
And dash the smiling babe against a stone?
Yes, the stern mother, than the brutes more wild,
From her disnatured breast may tear her child,
Flesh of her flesh, and of her bone the bone,
And dash the smiling babe against a stone;
But I, (forbid it, Heaven!) but I can ne'er
The love of Gotham from this bosom tear;
Can ne'er so far true royalty pervert
From its fair course, to do my people hurt.
With how much ease, with how much confidence--
As if, superior to each grosser sense,
Reason had only, in full power array'd,
To manifest her will, and be obey'd--
Men make resolves, and pass into decrees
The motions of the mind! with how much ease,
In such resolves, doth passion make a flaw,
And bring to nothing what was raised to law!
In empire young, scarce warm on Gotham's throne,
The dangers and the sweets of power unknown,
Pleased, though I scarce know why, like some young child,
Whose little senses each new toy turns wild,
How do I hold sweet dalliance with my crown,
And wanton with dominion, how lay down,
Without the sanction of a precedent,
Rules of most large and absolute extent;
Rules, which from sense of public virtue spring,
And all at once commence a Patriot King!
But, for the day of trial is at hand,
And the whole fortunes of a mighty land
Are staked on me, and all their weal or woe
Must from my good or evil conduct flow,
Will I, or can I, on a fair review,
As I assume that name, deserve it too?
Have I well weigh'd the great, the noble part
I'm now to play? have I explored my heart,
That labyrinth of fraud, that deep dark cell,
Where, unsuspected e'en by me, may dwell
Ten thousand follies? have I found out there
What I am fit to do, and what to bear?
Have I traced every passion to its rise,
Nor spared one lurking seed of treacherous vice?
Have I familiar with my nature grown?
And am I fairly to myself made known?
A Patriot King!--why, 'tis a name which bears
The more immediate stamp of Heaven; which wears
The nearest, best resemblance we can show
Of God above, through all his works below.
To still the voice of Discord in the land;
To make weak Faction's discontented band,
Detected, weak, and crumbling to decay,
With hunger pinch'd, on their own vitals prey;
Like brethren, in the self-same interests warm'd,
Like different bodies, with one soul inform'd;
To make a nation, nobly raised above
All meaner thought, grow up in common love;
To give the laws due vigour, and to hold
That secret balance, temperate, yet bold,
With such an equal hand, that those who fear
May yet approve, and own my justice clear;
To be a common father, to secure
The weak from violence, from pride the poor;
Vice and her sons to banish in disgrace,
To make Corruption dread to show her face;
To bid afflicted Virtue take new state,
And be at last acquainted with the great;
Of all religions to elect the best,
Nor let her priests be made a standing jest;
Rewards for worth with liberal hand to carve,
To love the arts, nor let the artists starve;
To make fair Plenty through the realm increase,
Give fame in war, and happiness in peace;
To see my people virtuous, great, and free,
And know that all those blessings flow from me;
Oh! 'tis a joy too exquisite, a thought
Which flatters Nature more than flattery ought;
'Tis a great, glorious task, for man too hard;
But no less great, less glorious the reward,
The best reward which here to man is given,
'Tis more than earth, and little short of heaven;
A task (if such comparison may be)
The same in Nature, differing in degree,
Like that which God, on whom for aid I call,
Performs with ease, and yet performs to all.
How much do they mistake, how little know
Of kings
Scheme | Text too long |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011010101 1101010101 0101011101 1101010101 11110100111 0011011111 1101010101 1101010101 0101011101 1101010101 11110100111 0011011111 1110011101 0101011101 1100101111 111001111 1011010111 10111011 1101010101 0101010101 1011010111 10111101 1101010101 0101010101 11011101111 0111011101 1111110010 1111111101 1111111100 11010011101 10110011001 110010101 1101010101 0101011111 0101110101 0111011111 0100111111 01000111001 1111111111 1101011111 11111100111 0101010111 0101010100 111101001 1111110101 01110101001 1101110111 0011010101 1111011111 1111110011 111111011 1101110111 1111010101 1111110111 110111111 1010111111 1101011111 1111110111 11110010111 11110111001 1101011101 011101111 01001110111 010100111011 0101010111 1101111101 1101110001 11110101 01010100101 110111111 1100011101 11001011101 1101010101 1101110101 110111011 110101011 1111011111 1101011101 1101010101 0111001101 1001110001 1101011101 1101010111 0111010101 1101010101 1101110101 01111100111 1101110101 1111010101 1101010001 11110100101 0111110111 1101110001 1110111001 10110011111 11111100001 01011111110 11110101110 0111010011 01010100001 1111111111 0111010111 1111011101 11 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,382 |
Words | 834 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 104 |
Lines Amount | 104 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 3,458 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 832 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 4:15 min read
- 84 Views
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"Gotham - Book III" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5058/gotham---book-iii>.
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