Analysis of Ode To Tranquillity

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



Tranquillity! thou better name
Than all the family of Fame!
Thou ne'er wilt leave my riper age
To low intrigue, or factious rage;
For oh! dear child of thoughtful Truth,
To thee I gave my early youth,
And left the bark, and blest the steadfast shore,
Ere yet the tempest rose and scared me with its roar.

Who late and lingering seeks thy shrine,
On him but seldom, Power divine,
Thy spirit rests! Satiety
And Sloth, poor counterfeits of thee,
Mock the tired worldling. Idle hope
And dire remembrance interlope,
To vex the feverish slumbers of the mind:
The bubble floats before, the spectre stalks behind.

But me thy gentle hand will lead
At morning through the accustomed mead;
And in the sultry summer's heat
Will build me up a mossy seat;
And when the gust of Autumn crowds,
And breaks the busy moonlight clouds,
Thou best the thought canst raise, the heart attune,
Light as the busy clouds, calm as the gliding moon.

The feeling heart, the searching soul,
To thee I dedicate the whole!
And while within myself I trace
The greatness of some future race,
Aloof with hermit-eye I scan
The present works of present man--
A wild and dream-like trade of blood and guile,
Too foolish for a tear, too wicked for a smile!


Scheme AABBCCDD EEFXGGFF FFFFHHII JJKKLLMM
Poetic Form
Metre 11101 11010011 1111111 1101111 11111101 11111101 010101011 110101011111 110100111 111101001 11011 0111011 10101101 010101 1101001101 010101010101 11110111 110100101 00010101 1111011 01011101 0101011 1101110101 110101110101 01010101 1111001 0101111 01011101 01110111 01011101 0101111101 110101110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,194
Words 220
Sentences 11
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 239
Words per stanza (avg) 55
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 04, 2023

1:06 min read
226

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…

All Samuel Taylor Coleridge poems | Samuel Taylor Coleridge Books

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