Analysis of To the Right Honourable The Countess Dowager Of Devonshire, On A Piece Of Wiessen's
Wiessen and nature held a long contest
If she created or he painted best;
With pleasing thought the wondrous combat grew,
She still form'd fairer, he still liker drew.
In these seven brethren they contended last;
With art increased their utmost skill they tried,
And both well pleased they had themselves surpass'd,
The goddess triumph'd, and the painter died.
That both their skill to this vast height did raise,
Be ours the wonder, and be yours the praise:
For here, as in some glass, is well descried
Only yourself thus often multiply'd.
When heaven had you and gracious Anna made,
What more exalted beauty could it add?
Having no nobler images in store,
It but kept up to these, nor could do more
Than copy well what it had framed before.
If in dear Burghley's generous face we see
Obliging truth and handsome honesty,
With all that world of charms which soon will move
Reverence in men, and in the fair ones love;
His every grace his fair descent assures,
He has his mother's beauty, she has yours.
If every Cecil's face had every charm
That thought can fancy or that heaven can form,
Their beauties all become your beauty's due;
They are all fair, because they're all like you.
If every Ca'ndish great and charming look,
From you that air, from you the charms, they took,
In their each limb your image is exprest,
But on their brow firm courage stands confest;
There their great father, by a strong increase,
Adds strength to beauty, and completes the piece.
Thus still your beauty in your sons we view,
Wiessen seven times one great perfection drew;
Whoever sat, the picture still is you.
So when the parent sun with genial beams
Has animated many goodly gems,
He sees himself improved, while every stone,
With a resembling light, reflects a sun.
So when great Rhea many births had given,
Such as might govern earth and people heaven,
Her glory grew diffused; and, fuller known,
She saw the Deity in every son;
And to what god soe'er men altars raised,
Honouring the offspring, they the mother praised.
In short-lived charms let others place their joys,
Which sickness blasts, and certain age destroys;
Your stronger beauty time can ne'er deface,
'Tis still renew'd and stamp'd in all your race.
Ah! Wiessen, had thy art been so refined
As with their beauty to have drawn their mind,
Through circling years thy labours would survive,
And living rules to fairest virtue give,
To men unborn and ages yet to live:
T'would still be wonderful, and still be new,
Against what time, or spite, or fate could do,
Till thine, confused with nature's pieces lie,
And Ca'ndish's name and Cecil's honour die.
Scheme | AABBCDCDEEAAFGHHHIIJKLLMNBBOOAAPPBBBQRSTTTSTUUVVWWXXYZYBB1 1 |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101010110 1101011101 1101010101 111101111 01101010101 110111111 0111110101 0101000101 1111111111 11001001101 111011111 10011101 11011010101 1101010111 1011010001 1111111111 1101111101 1011100111 0101010100 1111111111 10001000111 11001110101 1111010111 110010111001 11110111011 110101111 1111011111 1100110101 1111110111 011111011 111111011 1111010101 1111000101 1111001111 1101110101 0101010111 1101011101 110010101 11010111001 10010010101 11110101110 11110101010 0101010101 11010001001 011111101 10110101 0111110111 1101010101 1101011101 1101010111 111111101 1111011111 1100111101 0101110101 1111010111 11111000111 0111111111 1101110101 01101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,555 |
Words | 457 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 59 |
Lines Amount | 59 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 2,049 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 455 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:22 min read
- 63 Views
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"To the Right Honourable The Countess Dowager Of Devonshire, On A Piece Of Wiessen's" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27479/to-the-right-honourable-the-countess-dowager-of-devonshire%2C-on-a-piece-of-wiessen%27s>.
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