Analysis of Odes From Horace. - To Barine. Book The Second, Ode The Eighth.
Anna Seward 1742 (Eyam) – 1809
BARINE, to thy always broken vows
Were slightest punishment ordain'd;
Hadst thou less charming been
By one grey hair upon thy polish'd brows;
If but a single tooth were stain'd,
A nail discolour'd seen,
Then might I nurse the hope that, faithful grown,
The FUTURE might, at length, the guilty PAST atone.
But ah! no sooner on that perjur'd head,
With pomp, the votive wreaths are bound,
In mockery of truth,
Than lovelier grace thy faithless beauties shed;
Thou com'st, with new-born conquest crown'd,
The care of all our Youth,
Their public care; - and murmur'd praises rise
Where'er the beams are shot of those resistless eyes.
Thy Mother's buried dust; - the midnight train,
Of silent stars, - the rolling spheres,
Each God, that list'ning bows,
With thee it prospers, false-One! to profane.
The Nymphs attend; - gay Venus hears,
And all deride thy vows;
And Cupid whets afresh his burning darts
On the stone, moist with blood, that dropt from wounded hearts.
For thee our rising Youth to Manhood grow,
Ordain'd thy powerful chains to wear;
Nor do thy former Slaves
From the gay roof of their false Mistress go,
Tho' sworn no more to linger there;
Triumphant BEAUTY braves
The wise resolve; - and, ere they reach the door,
Fixes the faltering step to thy magnetic floor.
Thee the sage Matron fears, intent to warn
Her Striplings; - thee the Miser dreads,
And, of thy power aware,
Brides from the Fane with anxious sighs return,
Lest the bright nets thy beauty spreads,
Their plighted Lords ensnare,
Ere fades the marriage torch; nay even now,
While undispers'd the breath, that form'd the nuptial vow!
Scheme | ABXABXCC DEFDEFGG HXAHXAII JKLJKLMM XNKXNKOO |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101 01010001 111101 1111011101 11010101 0111 1111011101 010111010101 1111011101 1101111 010011 11111101 111111101 0111101 1101010101 1001111111 110101011 11010101 111111 1111011101 01011101 010111 0101011101 101111111101 1110101111 011100111 111101 1011111101 11111101 010101 0101011101 1001001110101 1011010111 0110101 0111001 1101110101 10111101 11101 1101011101 1101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,577 |
Words | 280 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 250 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 4 Views
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"Odes From Horace. - To Barine. Book The Second, Ode The Eighth." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54737/odes-from-horace.---to-barine.-book-the-second%2C-ode-the-eighth.>.
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