Analysis of Olympus

Coventry Patmore 1823 (Woodford, London) – 1896 (Lymington)



Through female subtlety intense,
Or the good luck of innocence,
Or both, my Wife, with whom I plan
To pass calm evenings when I can,
After the chattering girls and boys
Are gone, or the less grateful noise
Is over, of grown tongues that chime
Untruly, once upon a time
Prevail'd with me to change my mind
Of reading out how Rosalind
In Arden jested, and to go
Where people whom I ought to know,
She said, would meet that night. And I,
Who inly murmur'd, ‘I will try
Some dish more sharply spiced than this
Milk-soup men call domestic bliss,’
Took, as she, laughing, bade me take,
Our eldest boy's brown wide-awake
And straw box of cigars, and went
Where, like a careless parliament
Of gods olympic, six or eight
Authors and else, reputed great,
Were met in council jocular
On many things, pursuing far
Truth, only for the chase's glow,
Quick as they caught her letting go,
Or, when at fault the view-halloo,
Playing about the missing clue.
And coarse jests came; ‘But gods are coarse,’
Thought I, yet not without remorse,
While memory of the gentle words,
Wife, Mother, Sister, flash'd like swords.
And so, after two hours of wit,
That burnt a hole where'er it hit,
I said I would not stay to sup,
Because my Wife was sitting up;
And walk'd home with a sense that I
Was no match for that company.
Smelling of smoke, which, always kind,
Amelia said she did not mind,
I sipp'd her tea, saw Baby scold
And finger at the muslin fold,
Through which he push'd his nose at last,
And choked and chuckled, feeding fast;
And, he asleep and sent upstairs,
She rang the servants in to prayers;
And after heard what men of fame
Had urged 'gainst this and that. ‘For shame!’
She said, but argument show'd not.
‘If I had answer'd thus,’ I thought,
‘'Twould not have pass'd for very wise.
But I have not her voice and eyes!
Howe'er it be, I'm glad of home,
Yea, very glad at heart to come
And lay a happy head to rest
On her unreasonable breast.’


Scheme ABCCDDEEFGHHIIJJKKLMNNOPHHQQRRSTUUVVIWFFXXYYZZ1 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 7
Poetic Form
Metre 1110001 10111100 11111111 11110111 100100101 11101101 11011111 110101 01111111 11011100 0101011 11011111 11111101 1110111 11110111 11110101 11110111 101011101 01110101 11010100 11010111 10010101 01010100 11010101 11010101 11110101 1111011 10010101 01111111 11110101 110010101 11010111 011011011 11011011 11111111 01111101 01110111 11111100 1011111 01011111 11011101 01010101 11111111 01010101 01010101 11010011 01011111 11110111 11110011 11110111 11111101 11110101 10111111 11011111 01010111 1001001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,904
Words 365
Sentences 11
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 56
Lines Amount 56
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,474
Words per stanza (avg) 358
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:54 min read
52

Coventry Patmore

Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore was an English poet and critic best known for The Angel in the House, his narrative poem about an ideal happy marriage. more…

All Coventry Patmore poems | Coventry Patmore Books

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