Analysis of Epilogue to Agamemnon
James Thomson 1700 (Port Glasgow) – 1748 (London)
Our bard, to modern epilogue a foe,
Thinks such mean mirth but deadens generous woe;
Dispels in idle air the moral sigh,
And wipes the tender tear from Pity's eye:
No more with social warmth the bosom burns;
But all the unfeeling selfish man returns.
Thus he began:—And you approved the strain;
Till the next couplet sunk to light and vain.
You check'd him there.—To you, to reason just,
He owns he triumph'd in your kind disgust.
Charm'd by your frown, by your displeasure graced,
He hails the rising virtue of your taste.
Wide will its influence spread as soon as known:
Truth, to be loved, needs only to be shown.
Confirm it, once, the fashion to be good:
(Since fashion leads the fool, and awes the rude)
No petulance shall wound the public ear;
No hand applaud what honour shuns to hear:
No painful blush the modest cheek shall stain;
The worthy breast shall heave with no disdain.
Chastised to decency, the British stage
Shall oft invite the fair, invite the sage:
Both shall attend well pleased, well pleased depart;
Or if they doom the verse, absolve the heart.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHIJJDDKKLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101001 1111111001 0101010101 010101111 1111010101 11001010101 1101010101 101111101 1111111101 1111001101 1111110101 1101010111 11110011111 1111110111 0111010111 1101010101 1100110101 110111111 1101010111 0101111101 0111000101 1101010101 1101111101 1111010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,081 |
Words | 194 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 836 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 190 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 36 Views
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"Epilogue to Agamemnon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20566/epilogue-to-agamemnon>.
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