Analysis of At Penshurst
Edmund Waller 1606 (Coleshill) – 1687
Had Sacharissa lived when mortals made
Choice of their deities, this sacred shade
Had held an alter to her power, that gave
The peace and glory which these alleys have;
Embroidered so with flowers where she stood,
That it became a garden of a wood.
Her presence has such more than human grace
That it can civilize the rudest place;
And beauty too, and order, can impart,
Where nature ne'er intended it, nor art.
The plants acknowledge this, and her admire
No less than those of old did Orpheus' lyre;
If she sit down, with tops all towards her bowed,
They round about her into arbors crowd;
Or if she walk, in even ranks they stand,
Like some well marshaled and obsequious band.
Amphion so made stones and timber leap
Into fair figures from a confused heap;
And in the symmetry of her parts is found
A power like that of harmony in sound.
Ye lofty beeches, tell this matchless dame
That if together ye fed all one flame,
It could not equalize the hundredth part
Of what her eyes have kindled in my heart!
Go, boy, and carve this passion on the bark
Of yonder tree, which stands the sacred mark
Of noble Sidney's birth; when such benign,
Such more than mortal-making stars did shine,
That there they cannot but forever prove
The monument and pledge of humble love;
His humble love whose hopes shall ne'er rise higher
Than for a pardon that he dares admire.
Scheme | AAXXBBCCDDEEFFGGHHII JJDDKKLLXXXE |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101 1111001101 11110101011 0101011101 0101110111 1101010101 0101111101 111100101 0101010101 1101010111 0101010001 11111111001 11111110101 110100111 1111010111 11110001001 11110101 0111010011 00010010111 01011110001 11011111 1101011111 111100101 1101110011 1101110101 1101110101 110111101 1111010111 1111010101 0100011101 11011111110 1101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,333 |
Words | 249 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 20, 12 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 536 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 124 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 50 Views
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"At Penshurst" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9313/at-penshurst>.
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