Analysis of Present Imperative
Franklin P. Adams 1881 (Chicago, Illinois) – 1960 (New York City, New York)
Horace: Book I, Ode 11
"Tu ne quaesieris--scire nefas
--quem mihi; quem tibi--"
Nay querry not, Leuconoë, the finish of the fable;
Eliminate the worry as to what the years may hoard!
You only waste your time upon the Babylonian Table--
(Slang for the ouija board).
And as to whether Jupiter, the final, unsurpassed one,
May add a lot of winters to our portion here below,
Or this impinging season is to be our very last one--
Really, I'd hate to know.
Apply yourself to wisdom! Sweep the floor and wash the dishes,
Nor dream about the things you'll do in 1928!
My counsel is to cease to sit and yearn about your wishes,
Cursing the throws of fate.
My! how I have been chattering on matters sad and pleasant!
(Endure with me a moment while I polish off a rhyme).
If I were you, I think, I'd bother only with the present--
Now is the only time.
Scheme | X AX BCBC DEDE AXAX FGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111 11111 1111 110110101010 0100101110111 110111010010010 11011 01110100010011 110111011010101 1101010111101011 101111 010111010101010 110101110 110111110101110 100111 111111001101010 01110101110101 110111110101010 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 857 |
Words | 162 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 35 Views
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"Present Imperative" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14151/present-imperative>.
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