Analysis of Prologue To Tancred And Sigismunda
James Thomson 1700 (Port Glasgow) – 1748 (London)
Bold is the man! who, in this nicer age,
Presumes to tread the chaste corrected stage.
Now, with gay tinsel arts, we can no more
Conceal the want of Nature's sterling ore.
Our spells are vanish'd, broke our magic wand,
That used to wast you over sea and land.
Before your light the fairy people fade,
The demons fly—the ghost itself is laid.
In vain of martial scenes the loud alarms,
The mighty prompter thundering out to arms,
The playhouse posse clattering from afar,
The close-wedged battle, and the din of war.
Now, e'en the senate seldom we convene:
The yawning fathers nod behind the scene.
Your taste rejects the glittering false sublime,
To sigh in metaphor, and die in rhyme.
High rant is tumbled from his gallery throne:
Description dreams—nay, similies are gone.
What shall we then? to please you how devise
Whose judgment sits not in your ears and eyes?
Thrice happy! could we catch great Shakespeare's art,
To trace the deep recesses of the heart;
His simple plain sublime, to which is given
To strike the soul with darted flame from heaven:
Could we awake soft Otway's tender woe,
The pomp of verse and golden lines of Rowe.
We to your hearts apply; let them attend;
Before their silent candid bar we bend.
If warm'd, they listen, 'tis our noblest praise;
If cold, they wither all the Muse's bays.
Scheme | AABBCDEEFFGBHHIIJKLLMMNNOOPPQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 1101101101 0111010101 1111011111 0101110101 101110110101 1111110101 0111010101 0101010111 0111010101 0101100111 0110100101 0111000111 11101010101 0101010101 11010100101 1101000101 11110111001 01011111 1111111101 1101101101 110111111 1101100101 11010111110 11011101110 110111101 0111010111 1111011101 0111010111 11110110101 111101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,324 |
Words | 234 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 30 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,027 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 232 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 113 Views
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"Prologue To Tancred And Sigismunda" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20598/prologue-to-tancred-and-sigismunda>.
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