Analysis of A Letter For My Son To One Of His School--Fellows, Son To Henry Rose, Esq;
Mary Barber 1685 – 1755
Dear Rose, as I lately was writing some Verse,
Which I next Day intended in School to rehearse,
My Mother came in, and I thought she'd run wild:
``This Mr. Macmullen has ruin'd my Child:
``He uses me ill, and the World shall know it;
``I sent you to Latin, he makes you a Poet:
``A fine Way of training a Shop keeper's Son!
``'Twould better become him to teach you to dun:
``Let him teach both his Wit, and his Rhyming, to Rose;
``And give you some Lessons, to help to sell Cloaths:
``He'll have an Estate, and 'twill do very well,
``That he, like his Father, in Arts should excel;
``But for you, if your Father will take my Advice,
``He'll send you no more, till he lowers his Price:
``A Guinea a Quarter! 'tis monstrously dear!--
``You might learn to dance for four Guineas a Year:
``Then, Sir, 'tell your Master, That these are hard Times;
``And Paper's too dear to be wasted in Rhymes:
``I'll teach you a Way of employing it better;
``As, July the fifteenth, Lord Levington Debtor:
``You may rhyme till you're blind, what arises from thence?
``But Debtor and Creditor brings in the Pence:
``Those beggarly Muses but come for a Curse;
``But give me the Wit, that puts Gold in the Purse.''
From what she then told me, I plainly discern,
What different Lessons we Scholars must learn.
You're happy, dear Rose; for, as far as I find,
You've nothing to do, but embellish your Mind.
What different Tasks are assign'd us by Fate!
'Tis yours to become, mine to get an Estate.
Then, Rose, mind your Learning, whatever you do;
For I have the easier Task of the two.
Scheme | AABBXXCCXADDEEFFGGHHIIAA JJKKLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111011011 111101001101 11010011111 11001011011 11011001111 111110111010 0111100111 11001111111 111111011011 01111011111 11101011101 11111001101 111111011101 11111111011 010010111 11111111001 11111011111 01011111001 111011010110 110011110 111111101011 11001001001 111011101 11101111001 11111111001 11001011011 11011111111 11011101011 11001101111 11101111101 1111101011 11101001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,536 |
Words | 293 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 24, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 595 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 145 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 115 Views
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"A Letter For My Son To One Of His School--Fellows, Son To Henry Rose, Esq;" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26596/a-letter-for-my-son-to-one-of-his-school--fellows%2C-son-to-henry-rose%2C-esq%3B>.
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