Analysis of Ode to the Moon
Mary Darby Robinson 1757 (England) – 1800 (England)
PALE GODDESS of the witching hour;
Blest Contemplation's placid friend;
Oft in my solitary bow'r,
I mark thy lucid beam
From thy crystal car descend,
Whitening the spangled heath, and limpid sapphire stream.
And oft, amidst the shades of night
I court thy undulating light;
When Fairies dance around the verdant ring,
Or frisk beside the bubbling spring,
When the thoughtless SHEPHERD'S song
Echoes thro' the silent air,
As he pens his fleecy care,
Or plods with saunt'ring gait, the dewy meads along.
CHASTE ORB! as thro' the vaulted sky
Feath'ry clouds transparent sail;
When thy languid, weeping eye,
Sheds its soft tears upon the painted vale;
As I ponder o'er the floods,
Or tread with listless step, th'embow'ring woods,
O, let thy transitory beam,
Soothe my sad mind, with FANCY'S aëry dream.
Wrapt in REFLECTION, let me trace
O'er the vast ethereal space,
Stars, whose twinkling fires illume
Dark-brow'd NIGHT'S obtrusive gloom;
Where across the concave wide;
Flaming METEORS swiftly glide;
Or along the milky way,
Vapours shoot a silvery ray;
And as I mark, thy faint reclining head,
Sinking on Ocean's pearly bed;
Let REASON tell my soul, thus all things fade.
The Seasons change, the "garish SUN"
When Day's burning car hath run
Its fiery course, no more we view,
While o'er the mountain's golden head,
Streak'd with tints of crimson hue,
Twilight's filmy curtains spread,
Stealing o'er Nature's face, a desolating shade.
Yon musky FLOW'R, that scents the earth;
The SOD, that gave its odours birth;
The ROCK, that breaks the torrent's force;
The VALE, that owns its wand'ring course;
The woodlands where the vocal throng
Trill the wild melodious song;
Thirsty desarts, sands that glow,
Mountains, cap'd with flaky snow;
Luxuriant groves, enamell'd fields,
All, all, prolific Nature yields,
Alike shall end; the sensate HEART,
With all its passions, all its fire,
Touch'd by FATE'S unerring dart,
Shall feel its vital strength expire;
Those eyes, that beam with FRIENDSHIP'S ray,
And glance ineffable delight,
Shall shrink from LIFE'S translucid day,
And close their fainting orbs, in DEATH'S impervious night.
Then what remains for mortal pow'r;
But TIME'S dull journey to beguile;
To deck with joy, the winged hour,
To meet its sorrows with a patient smile;
And when the toilsome pilgrimage shall end,
To greet the tyrant, as a welcome friend.
Scheme | ABCDBD EEFFGHHG IJIJXXDD KKDXLLMMNNO PPQNQNO RRSSGGTTUUVAVXMEME CWAWBB |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101010 11101 10110011 111101 1110101 1000101011001 01010111 1111001 1101010101 110101001 1010101 1010101 1111101 11111010101 11110101 110101 1110101 1111010101 11101001 11110111 1111001 111111011 10010111 100101001 11100101 1110101 1010011 10100101 1010101 1101001 0111110101 10110101 1101111111 01010101 1110111 110011111 110010101 1111101 11101 1010101011 110111101 0111111 0111011 01111111 0110101 10101001 101111 1011101 0100111 11010101 0111011 111101110 11111 11110101 1111111 01010001 111111 0111010101001 110111011 11110101 11110110 1111010101 010110011 1101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,329 |
Words | 388 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 8, 8, 11, 7, 18, 6 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 264 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 31, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 156 Views
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"Ode to the Moon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26755/ode-to-the-moon>.
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