Analysis of Ambition And Content: A Fable
Mark Akenside 1721 (Newcastle upon Tyne) – 1770
“
Optat quietem.” —Hor
.
While yet the world was young, and men were few,
Nor lurking fraud, nor tyrant rapine knew,
In virtue rude, the gaudy arts they scorn'd,
Which, virtue lost, degenerate times adorn'd:
No sumptuous fabrics yet were seen to rise,
Nor gushing fountains taught to invade the skies;
With nature, art had not begun the strife,
Nor swelling marble rose to mimic life;
No pencil yet had learn'd to express the fair;
The bounteous earth was all their homely care.
Then did Content exert her genial sway,
And taught the peaceful world her power to obey;
Content, a female of celestial race,
Bright and complete in each celestial grace.
Serenely fair she was, as rising day,
And brighter than the sun's meridian ray;
Joy of all hearts, delight of every eye,
Nor grief, nor pain appear'd when she was by;
Her presence from the wretched banish'd care,
Dispers'd the swelling sigh, and stopt the falling tear.
Long did the nymph her regal state maintain,
As long mankind were blest beneath her reign;
Till dire Ambition, hellish fiend, arose,
To plague the world, and banish man's repose:
A monster sprung from that rebellious crew,
Which mighty Jove's Phlegræan thunder slew.
Resolv'd to dispossess the royal fair,
On all her friends he threaten'd open war:
Fond of the novelty, vain, fickle man,
In crowds to his infernal standard ran;
And the weak maid, defenceless left alone,
To avoid his rage, was forc'd to quit the throne.
It chanc'd as wandering through the fields she stray'd,
Forsook of all, and destitute of aid,
Upon a rising mountain's flowery side
A pleasant cottage, roof'd with turf, she spied:
Fast by a gloomy, venerable wood
Of shady planes, and ancient oaks, it stood.
Around a various prospect charm'd the sight;
Here waving harvests clad the fields with white;
Here a rough shaggy rock the clouds did pierce,
From which a torrent rush'd with rapid force;
Here mountain-woods diffus'd a dusky shade;
Here flocks and herds in flowery valleys play'd,
While o'er the matted grass the liquid crystal stray'd.
In this sweet place there dwelt a cheerful pair,
Though bent beneath the weight of many a year;
Who wisely flying public noise and strife,
In this obscure retreat had pass'd their life;
The husband Industry was call'd, Frugality the wife.
With tenderest Friendship mutually blest,
No household jars had e'er disturb'd their rest.
A numerous offspring grac'd their homely board,
That still with Nature's simple gifts was stor'd.
The father rural business only knew;
The sons the same delightful art pursue:
An only daughter, as a goddess fair,
Above the rest was the fond mother's care;
Plenty; the brightest nymph of all the plain,
Each heart's delight, ador'd by every swain.
Soon as Content this charming scene espied,
Joyful within herself the goddess cried;
“This happy sight my drooping heart doth raise;
The gods, I hope, will grant me gentler days:
When with prosperity my life was blest,
In yonder house I've been a welcome guest:
There now, perhaps, I may protection find;
For royalty is banish'd from my mind;
I'll thither haste: how happy should I be,
If such a refuge were reserv'd for me!”
Thus spoke the fair; and straight she bent her way
To the tall mountain, where the cottage lay:
Arriv'd she makes her chang'd condition known;
Tells how the rebels drove her from the throne;
What painful, dreary wilds she'd wander'd o'er;
And shelter from the tyrant doth implore.
The faithful, aged pair at once were seiz'd
With joy and grief, at once were pain'd and pleas'd;
Grief for their banish'd queen their hearts possest,
And joy succeeded for their future guest;
“And if you'll deign, bright goddess, here to dwell,
And with your presence grace our humble cell,
Whate'er the gods have given with bounteous hand,
Our harvests, fields and flocks, our all command.”
Meantime, Ambition, on his rival's flight,
Sole lord of man, attain'd his wish's height;
Of all dependence on his subjects eas'd,
He rag'd without a curb, and did whate'er he pleas'd:
As some wild flame, driven on by furious winds,
Wide spreads destruction, nor resistance finds;
So rush'd the fiend destructive o'er the plain,
Defac'd the labours of the industrious swain;
Polluted every stream with human gore,
And scatter'd plagues and death from shore to shore.
Great Jove beheld it from the Olympian towers,
Where sate assembled all the heavenly powers;
Then with a nod that shook the empyrean throne,
Thus the Saturnian thunderer beg
Scheme | A BBCCDDEEAA FFGGFAHHAA IIJJABAAKKLL MMNNOOPPXXMMMAAEEEQQRRBBAAIICNSSQQTTUU FFLLAA VVCQWWXX PPVVXXIIAA YYLX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 111 1 1101110101 110111011 0101010111 11010100101 1101010111 11010110101 1101110101 1101011101 11011110101 011111101 1110010101 010101010101 100110101 1001010101 01001111101 01010101001 11110111001 1111011111 0101010101 010101010101 1101010101 1111010101 1101010101 1101010101 0101110101 110111101 011010101 1101110101 1101001101 0111010101 00111101 10111111101 11110010111 011101011 01010101001 0101011111 1101010001 1101010111 01010010101 1101010111 1011010111 1101011101 110101011 11010100101 110011010101 0111110101 11010111001 1101010101 0101011111 01010011010001 111010001 1111100111 0100111101 1111010111 0101010101 0101010101 1101010101 0101101101 1001011101 11010111001 111011011 1001010101 1101110111 0111111101 1101001111 0101110101 1101110101 1100110111 111110111 1101000111 1101011101 1011010101 0111010101 1101010101 11010111010 0101010101 010111101 1101110101 111101111 0101011101 0111110111 01110110101 1001110111 101010110101 101011101 111101111 1101011101 110101011011 111110111001 1101010101 11010101001 01011001001 01010011101 0101011111 111110010010 110101010010 110111011 10111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,367 |
Words | 755 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 10, 10, 12, 38, 6, 8, 10, 4 |
Lines Amount | 101 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 388 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 84 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 4:04 min read
- 52 Views
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"Ambition And Content: A Fable" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26483/ambition-and-content%3A-a-fable>.
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