Analysis of Ode To Despair
Charlotte Smith 1749 (London) – 1806 (Tilford, Surrey)
FROM THE NOVEL OF EMMELINE.
THOU spectre of terrific mien!
Lord of the hopeless heart and hollow eye,
In whose fierce train each form is seen
That drives sick Reason to insanity!
I woo thee with unusual prayer,
'Grim visaged, comfortless Despair:'
Approach; in me a willing victim find,
Who seeks thine iron sway--and calls thee kind!
Ah! hide for ever from my sight
The faithless flatterer Hope--whose pencil, gay,
Portrays some vision of delight,
Then bids the fairy tablet fade away;
While in dire contrast, to mine eyes,
Thy phantoms, yet more hideous, rise,
And Memory draws from Pleasure's wither'd flower,
Corrosives for the heart--of fatal power!
I bid the traitor Love adieu!
Who to this fond believing bosom came,
A guest insidious and untrue,
With Pity's soothing voice--in Friendship's name;
The wounds he gave, nor Time shall cure,
Nor Reason teach me to endure.
And to that breast mild Patience pleads in vain,
Which feels the curse--of meriting its pain.
Yet not to me, tremendous Power!
Thy worst of spirit-wounding pangs impart,
With which, in dark conviction's hour,
Thou strik'st the guilty unrepentant heart;
But of illusion long the sport,
That dreary, tranquil gloom I court,
Where my past errors I may still deplore,
And dream of long-lost happiness no more!
To thee I give this tortured breast,
Where Hope arises but to foster pain;
Ah! lull its agonies to rest!
Ah! let me never be deceived again!
But callous, in thy deep repose,
Behold, in long array, the woes
Of the dread future, calm and undismay'd,
Till I may claim the hope--that shall not fade!
Scheme | XAXABCCDDEFEF GGHHIJIJKKLLHMHMNNOOPLPXQQBX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010110 11010101 1101010101 01111111 1111010100 11110101 11101 0101010101 1111010111 11110111 01111101 01110101 1101010101 10110111 110111001 01001111010 110111010 11010101 1111010101 010100001 11101011 01111111 11011101 0111110101 1101110011 111101010 1111010101 1101110 110100101 11010101 11010111 1111011101 0111110011 11111101 1101011101 11110011 1111010101 11001101 01010101 10110101 1111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,546 |
Words | 271 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 13, 28 |
Lines Amount | 41 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 616 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 134 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 128 Views
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"Ode To Despair" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5578/ode-to-despair>.
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