Analysis of You ask why these mountains

Amelia Opie 1769 (Norwich, England) – 1853 (Norwich, England)



YOU ask why these mountains delight me no more,
And why lovely Clwyd's attractions are o'er;
Ah! have you not heard, then, the cause of my pain?
The pride of fair Clwyd, the boast of the plain,
We never, no never, shall gaze on again!

What though from her coldness keen anguish I felt,
And vainly, to move her, in agony knelt;
Yet could I restore her, I'd never complain,
Not e'en though she doomed me to endless disdain....
I'd bear any torture to see her again.

I grieved when on others with kindness she gazed,
I mourned when another with pleasure she praised;
But could I recall her to life by my pain,
I'd urge her to favour some happier swain,
And wish no reward but to see her again.

Those beauties that charmed me, from death I would free,
Though sure that those beauties another's should be!
But truth, and affection, and grief are all vain;
The pride of fair Clwyd, the boast of our plain,
We never, ah never! can gaze on again!


Scheme XXAAB CCAAB DDAAB EEAAB
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 11111001111 01101010110 11111101111 0111101101 11011011101 11101011011 01011001001 11101011001 111111111001 11101011001 11111011011 11101011011 1111011111 1101111001 01101111001 11011111111 11111001011 11001001111 01111011101 11011011101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 927
Words 178
Sentences 10
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 180
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

55 sec read
81

Amelia Opie

Amelia Opie, née Alderson, was an English author who published numerous novels in the Romantic Period of the early 19th century, through to 1828. Opie was also a leading abolitionist in Norwich, England. Amelia Opie's was the first of 187,000 names presented to the British Parliament on a petition from women to stop slavery. more…

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