Analysis of Upon the Kings happy return from Scotland

Henry King 1592 (Worminghall, Buckinghamshire) – 1669 (Chichester)



So breaks the day when the returning Sun
Hath newly through his Winter Tropick run,
As You (Great Sir!) in this regress come forth
From the remoter Climate of the North.
To tell You now what cares, what fears we past,
What Clouds of sorrow did the land ore-cast,
Were lost, but unto such as have been there
Where the absented Sun benights the year:
Or have those Countreys traveld which nere feel
The warmth and vertue of his flaming wheel.
How happy yet were we! that when you went,
You left within your Kingdomes firmament
A Partner-Light, whose lustre may despise
The nightly glimm'ring Tapers of the skies,
Your peerless Queen; and at each hand a Starre
Whose hopeful beams from You enkindled are.
Though (to say truth) the light which they could bring
Serv'd but to lengthen out our evening.
Heavens greater lamps illumine it; each spark
Adds onely this, to make the sky less dark.
Nay She who is the glory of her sex
Did sadly droop for lack of Your reflex:
Oft did She her fair brow in loneness shrowd,
And dimly shone, like Venus in a cloud.
Now are those gloomy mists dry'd up by You,
As the Worlds eye scatters the Ev'ning dew:
And You bring home that blessing to the land
Which absence made us rightly understand.
Here may You henceforth stay! there need no charms
To hold You, but the circle of her arms,
Whose fruitful love yields You a rich increase,
Seales of Your joy, and of the kingdomes peace.
O may those precious pledges fixe You here,
And You grow old within that chrystall Sphere!
Pardon this bold detention. Else our love
Will meerly an officious trouble prove.
Each busie minute tells us as it flies,
That there are better objects for your eyes.
To them let us leave you, whil'st we go pray,
Raising this triumph to a Holy-day.
And may that soul the Churches blessing want;
May his content be short, his comforts scant,
Whose Bosom-Altar does no incense burn,
In thankful sacrifice for your return.


Scheme AABBCCDEFFGCHHDIJJKKLLCMNNOOPPQQRESTHHUUVWXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1101100101 110111011 1111011011 10110101 1111111111 1111010111 0111011111 10110101 11111111 010111101 1101011111 1101111 0101110101 010110101 1101011101 11011111 1111011111 1111011010 101011111 111110111 1111010101 1101111110 111011011 0101110001 1111011111 101110111 0111110101 110111001 1111111111 1111010101 1101110101 111101011 1111010111 011101111 10110101101 1111101 111011111 1111010111 1111111111 1011010101 0111010101 1110111101 1101011011 010101101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,931
Words 351
Sentences 18
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 44
Lines Amount 44
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,517
Words per stanza (avg) 348
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:46 min read
52

Henry King

Henry King was an English poet who served as Bishop of Chichester. more…

All Henry King poems | Henry King Books

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