Analysis of France: An Ode

Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 (Ottery St Mary) – 1834 (Highgate)



EXCERPT]
...
     O Liberty ! with profitless endeavour
Have I pursued thee, many a weary hour ;
     But thou nor swell'st the victor's strain, nor ever
Didst breathe thy soul in forms of human power.
     Alike from all, howe'er they praise thee,
     (Nor prayer, nor boastful name delays thee)
     [Image]Alike from Priestcraft's harpy minions,
     And factious Blasphemy's obscener slaves,
     Thou speedest on thy subtle pinions,
The guide of homeless winds, and playmate of the waves !
And there I felt thee !--on that sea-cliff's verge,
     Whose pines, scarce travelled by the breeze above,
Had made one murmur with the distant surge !
Yes, while I stood and gazed, my temples bare,
And shot my being through earth, sea, and air,
     Possessing all things with intensest love,
     O Liberty ! my spirit felt thee there.


Scheme A BBBBCCDEDEFGFHHGH
Poetic Form
Metre 10 1 110011010 110111001010 111110101110 11110111010 011110111 111101011 111110 01111 1111101 01110101101 0111111111 1111010101 1111010101 1111011101 0111011101 01011111 1100110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 826
Words 130
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 19
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 610
Words per stanza (avg) 134
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 17, 2023

40 sec read
206

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. more…

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