Analysis of Odes From Horace. - To Licinius Murena. Book The Second, Ode The Tenth.
Anna Seward 1742 (Eyam) – 1809
Not always, dear Licinius, is it wise
On the main Sea to ply the daring Oar;
Nor is it safe, from dread of angry Skies,
Closely to press on the insidious Shore.
To no excess discerning Spirits lean,
They feel the blessings of the golden mean;
They will not grovel in the squalid cell,
Nor seek in princely domes, with envied pomp, to dwell.
The pine, that lifts so high her stately boughs,
Writhes in the storms, and bends beneath their might,
Innoxious while the loudest tempest blows
O'er trees, that boast a less-aspiring height.
As the wild fury of the whirlwind pours,
With direst ruin fall the loftiest towers;
And 't is the mountain's summit that, oblique,
From the dense, lurid clouds, the baleful lightnings strike.
A mind well disciplin'd, when Sorrow lours,
Not sullenly excludes Hope's smiling rays;
Nor, when soft Pleasure boasts of lasting powers,
With boundless trust the Promiser surveys.
It is the same dread Jove, who thro' the sky
Hurls the loud storms, that darken as they fly;
And whose benignant hand withdraws the gloom,
And spreads rekindling light, in all its living bloom.
To-day the Soul perceives a weight of woe; -
A brighter Morrow shall gay thoughts inspire.
DoesPhoebus always bend the vengeful bow?
Wakes he not often the harmonious lyre?
Be thou, when Danger scowls in every wave,
Watchful, collected, spirited, and brave;
But in the sunny sky, the flattering gales,
Contract, with steady hand, thy too expanded sails.
Scheme | ABABCCDD XEXEXFXX AGFGHHII XJXJKKLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 1011110101 1111111101 10111001001 111010101 1101010101 1111000101 110101110111 0111110101 1001010111 11010101 10111010101 101101011 1101010110 01101010101 101101010101 0111001101 11011101 11110111010 11010101 1101111101 1011110111 01110101 010101011101 1101010111 0101011101 1110101 11110001001 11110101001 1001010001 10010101001 11101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,432 |
Words | 250 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 286 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 12, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 16 Views
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"Odes From Horace. - To Licinius Murena. Book The Second, Ode The Tenth." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54740/odes-from-horace.---to-licinius-murena.-book-the-second%2C-ode-the-tenth.>.
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