To Stella On Her Birth-Day, 1721-2
While, Stella, to your lasting praise
The Muse her annual tribute pays,
While I assign myself a task
Which you expect, but scorn to ask;
If I perform this task with pain,
Let me of partial fate complain;
You every year the debt enlarge,
I grow less equal to the charge:
In you each virtue brighter shines,
But my poetic vein declines;
My harp will soon in vain be strung,
And all your virtues left unsung.
For none among the upstart race
Of poets dare assume my place;
Your worth will be to them unknown,
They must have Stellas of their own;
And thus, my stock of wit decay'd,
I dying leave the debt unpaid,
Unless Delany, as my heir,
Will answer for the whole arrear.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 83 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 657 |
Words | 128 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
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"To Stella On Her Birth-Day, 1721-2" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Feb. 2025. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/24341/to-stella-on-her-birth-day,-1721-2>.
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