When Stretch'd on One's Bed

Jane Austen 1775 (Steventon Rectory, Hampshire) – 1817 (Winchester, Hampshire)



When stretch'd on one's bed
With a fierce-throbbing head,
Which preculdes alike thought or repose,
How little one cares
For the grandest affairs
That may busy the world as it goes!

How little one feels
For the waltzes and reels
Of our Dance-loving friends at a Ball!
How slight one's concern
To conjecture or learn
What their flounces or hearts may befall.

How little one minds
If a company dines
On the best that the Season affords!
How short is one's muse
O'er the Sauces and Stews,
Or the Guests, be they Beggars or Lords.

How little the Bells,
Ring they Peels, toll they Knells,
Can attract our attention or Ears!
The Bride may be married,
The Corse may be carried
And touch nor our hopes nor our fears.

Our own bodily pains
Ev'ry faculty chains;
We can feel on no subject besides.
Tis in health and in ease
We the power must seize
For our friends and our souls to provide.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

51 sec read
105

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCCB DDEFFE XXGHHG XBIJJI KKXLLX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 881
Words 164
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Jane Austen

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. more…

All Jane Austen poems | Jane Austen Books

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