Analysis of Lines on Hearing it Declared that No Women Were So Handsome as the English
Mary Darby Robinson 1757 (England) – 1800 (England)
BEAUTY, the attribute of Heaven!
In various forms to mortals given,
With magic skill enslaves mankind,
As sportive fancy sways the mind.
Search the wide world, go where you will,
VARIETY pursues you still;
Capricious Nature knows no bound,
Her unexhausted gifts are found
In ev'ry clime, in ev'ry face,
Each has its own peculiar grace.
To GALLIA's frolic scenes repair,
There reigns the tyny DEBONAIRE;
The mincing stepthe slender waist,
The lip with bright vermilion grac'd:
The short pert nosethe pearly teeth,
With the small dimpled chin beneath,
The social converse, gay and free,
The smart BON-MOT and REPARTEE.
ITALIA boasts the melting fair,
The pointed step, the haughty air,
Th' empassion'd tone, the languid eye,
The song of thrilling harmony;
Insidious LOVE conceal'd in smiles
That charmsand as it charms beguiles.
View GRECIAN MAIDS, whose finish'd forms
The wond'ring sculptor's fancy warms!
There let thy ravish'd eye behold
The softest gems of Nature's mould;
Each charm, that REYNOLDS learnt to trace,
From SHERIDAN's bewitching face.
Imperious TURKEY's pride is seen
In Beauty's rich luxuriant mien;
The dark and sparkling orbs that glow
Beneath a polish'd front of snow:
The auburn curl that zephyr blows
About the cheek of brightest rose:
The shorten'd zone, the swelling breast,
With costly gems profusely drest;
Reclin'd in softly-waving bow'rs,
On painted beds of fragrant flow'rs;
Where od'rous canopies dispense
ARABIA's spices to the sense;
Where listless indolence and ease,
Proclaim the sov'reign wish, to please.
'Tis thus, capricious FANCY shows
How far her frolic empire goes !
On ASIA's sands, on ALPINE snow,
We trace her steps where'er we go;
The BRITISH Maid with timid grace;
The tawny INDIAN 's varnish'd face;
The jetty AFRICAN; the fair
Nurs'd by EUROPA's softer air;
With various charms delight the mind,
For FANCY governs ALL MANKIND.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEE FFGGHHII FFXIXE JJKKEE LLMMNNXBEEOOPPNN MMEEFFBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010110 0100111010 1101111 1110101 10111111 01000111 01010111 01111 011011 11110101 1110101 11011 01010101 01110101 01110101 10110101 01010101 0111001 010010101 01010101 11110101 01110100 010010101 1101111 11011101 0111101 1111101 01011101 11110111 1111 010010111 01101001 01010111 01010111 01011101 01011101 01010101 11010101 01010101 11011101 11101 010010101 110101 0101111 11010101 110101001 1101111 11011011 01011101 0101001101 01010001 111101 110010101 11010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,888 |
Words | 303 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 8, 6, 6, 16, 8 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 248 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 26, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 131 Views
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"Lines on Hearing it Declared that No Women Were So Handsome as the English" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26734/lines-on-hearing-it-declared-that-no-women-were-so-handsome-as-the-english>.
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