Analysis of Ode XIV: To The Honourable Charles Townshend: From The Country
Mark Akenside 1721 (Newcastle upon Tyne) – 1770
I.
Say, Townshend, what can London boast
To pay thee for the pleasures lost,
The health to-day resign'd,
When spring from this her favorite seat
Bade winter hasten his retreat,
And met the western wind?
II.
Oh knew'st thou how the balmy air,
The sun, the azure heavens prepare
To heal thy languid frame,
No more would noisy courts ingage;
In vain would lying faction's rage
Thy sacred leisure claim.
III.
Oft i look'd forth, and oft admir'd;
Till with the studious volume tir'd
I sought the open day;
And, sure, I cry'd, the rural gods
Expect me in their green abodes,
And chide my tardy lay.
IV.
But ah in vain my restless feet
Trac'd every silent shady seat
Which knew their forms of old:
Nor Naiad by her fountain laid,
Nor Wood-nymph tripping through her glade,
Did now their rites unfold:
V.
Whether to nurse some infant oak
They turn the slowly-tinkling brook
And catch the pearly showers,
Or brush the mildew from the woods,
Or paint with noontide beams the buds,
Or breathe on opening flowers.
VI.
Such rites, which they with spring renew,
The eyes of care can never view;
And care hath long been mine:
And hence offended with their guest,
Since grief of love my soul oppress'd,
They hide their toils divine.
VII.
But soon shall thy inlivening tongue
This heart, by dear affliction wrung,
With noble hope inspire:
Then will the sylvan powers again
Receive me in their genial train,
And listen to my lyre.
VIII.
Beneath yon Dryad's lonely shade
A rustic altar shall be paid,
Of turf with laurel fram'd:
And thou the inscription wilt approve;
'This for the peace which, lost by love,
By friendship was reclaim'd.'
Scheme | AXXBCCB ADDEFFE AGGHIIH JCCKLLK JXXMXXM AXJNOON JPPQXXQ JLLRJJR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 1111101 11110101 011101 111101001 11010101 010101 1 111110101 010101001 111101 1111011 0111011 110101 1 111101010 1101001010 110101 01110101 0110111 011101 1 11011101 110010101 111111 1110101 11110101 111101 1 10111101 110101001 0101010 1101101 1111101 11110010 1 11111101 01111101 011111 01010111 11111101 111101 1 111111 11110101 110101 110101001 01101101 010111 1 0111101 01010111 111101 010010101 11011111 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,572 |
Words | 290 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 158 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 25 Views
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"Ode XIV: To The Honourable Charles Townshend: From The Country" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26529/ode-xiv%3A-to-the-honourable-charles-townshend%3A-from-the-country>.
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