Analysis of Palmyra (1st Edition)



---anankta ton pantôn huperbal-
lonta chronon makarôn.
Pindar. Hymn. frag. 33

As the mountain-torrent rages,
Loud, impetuous, swift, and strong,
So the rapid streams of ages
Rolls with ceaseless tide along.
Man's little day what clouds o'ercast!
How soon his longest day is past!
All-conquering DEATH, in solemn date unfurl'd,
Comes, like the burning desert blast,
And sweeps him from the world.
The noblest works of human pow'r
In vain resist the fate-fraught hour;
The marble hall, the rock-built tow'r,
Alike submit to destiny:
OBLIVION's awful storms resound;
The massy columns fall around;
The fabric totters to the ground,
And darkness veils its memory!

'Mid SYRIA's barren world of sand,
Where THEDMOR's marble wastes expand.
Where DESOLATION, on the blasted plain,
Has fix'd his adamantine throne,
I mark, in silence and alone,
His melancholy reign.
These silent wrecks, more eloquent than speech,
Full many a tale of awful note impart;
Truths more sublime than bard or sage can teach
This pomp of ruin presses on the heart.
Whence rose that dim, mysterious sound,
That breath'd in hollow murmurs round?
As sweeps the gale
Along the vale,
Where many a mould'ring tomb is spread,
Awe-struck, I hear,
In fancy's ear,
The voices of th' illustrious dead:
As slow they pass along, they seem to sigh,
"Man, and the works of man, are only born to die!"

As scatter'd round, a dreary space,
Ye spirits of the wise and just!
In reverential thought I trace
The mansions of your sacred dust,
Enthusiast FANCY, rob'd in light,
Pours on the air her many-sparkling rays,
Redeeming from OBLIVION's deep'ning night
The deeds of ancient days.
The mighty forms of chiefs of old,
To VIRTUE dear, and PATRIOT TRUTH sublime,
In feeble splendor I behold,
Discover'd dimly through the mists of TIME,
As through the vapours of the mountain-stream
With pale reflection glows the sun's declining beam.

Still as twilight's mantle hoary
Spreads progressive on the sky,
See, in visionary glory,
Darkly-thron'd, they sit on high.
But whose the forms, oh FAME, declare,
That crowd majestic on the air?
Bright Goddess! come, on rapid wings,
To tell the mighty deeds of kings.
Where art thou, FAME?
Each honor'd name
From thy eternal roll unfold:
Awake the lyre,
In songs of fire,
To chiefs renown'd in days of old.
I call in vain!
The welcome strain
Of praise to them no more shall sound:
Their actions bright
Must sleep in night,
Till TIME shall cease his mystic round.
The dazzling glories of their day
The stream of years has swept away;
Their names, that struck the foe with fear,
Shall ring no more on mortal ear!

Yet faithful MEMORY's raptur'd eye
Can still the godlike form descry,
Of him, who, on EUPHRATES' shore,
From SAPOR's brow his blood-stain'd laurels tore,
And bade the ROMAN banner stream unfurl'd;
When the stern GENIUS of the startling waves
Beheld on PERSIA s host of slaves
Tumultuous ruin hurl'd!
Meek SCIENCE too, and TASTE refin'd,
The grave with deathless flow'rs have dress'd,
Of him whose virtue-kindling mind
Their ev'ry charm supremely bless'd;
Who trac'd the mazy warblings of the lyre
With all a critic's art, and all a poet's fire.

Where is the bard, in these degen'rate days,
To whom the muse the blissful meed awards,
Again the dithyrambic song to raise,
And strike the golden harp's responsive chords?
Be his alone the song to swell,
The all-transcendent praise to tell
Of yon immortal form,
That bursting through the veil of years,
In changeless majesty appears,
Bright as the sun-beams thro' the scatt'ring storm!
What countless charms around her rise!
What dazzling splendor sparkles in her eyes!
On her radiant brow enshrin'd,
MINERVA's beauty blends with JUNO's grace;
The matchless virtues of her godlike mind
Are stamp'd conspicuous on her angel-face.

Hail, sacred shade, to NaATURE dear!
Though sorrow clos'd thy bright career,
Though clouds obscur'd thy setting day,
Thy fame shall never pass away!
Long shall the mind's unfading gaze
Retrace thy pow'r's meridian blaze,
When o'er ARABIAN deserts, vast and wild,
And EGYPT s land, (where REASON's wakeful eye
First on the birth of ART and SCIENCE smil'd,
And bade the shades of mental darkness fly)
And o'er ASSYRIA's many-peopled plains,
By Ju


Scheme AXB XBXBCCCCCDEDFCCCF CCGHHGICICCCAACJJCKC LCLCCMCMCNCNOO FBFKPPQQRRCSECGGCCCCCTUJ KDVVCWWCCCCCSE MXMXAAYZZY1 1 CLCL UUCTMMCKCAXX
Poetic Form Etheree  (26%)
Tetractys  (23%)
Metre 11111 11101 111 10101010 1010101 10101110 1110101 1101111 11110111 11001010101 11010101 011101 010111011 010101110 010101111 01011100 11011 0110101 0101101 01011100 110010111 1110101 101010101 11111 11010001 11001 1101110011 11001110101 1101111111 1111010101 111101001 11010101 1101 0101 110011111 1111 011 01011101001 1111011111 100111110111 11010101 11010101 0010111 01011101 01010101 1101010101 01011111 011101 01011111 11010100101 01010101 0101010111 110110101 110101010101 1111010 1010101 1010010 1011111 11011101 11010101 11011101 11010111 1111 1101 11010101 0101 01110 11010111 1101 0101 11111111 1101 1101 11111101 010010111 01111101 11110111 11111101 110111 110111 11110101 111111101 0101010101 1011010101 11101111 100101 11010101 0111111 11110101 11101001 11011101 1101010101010 1101011011 1101010101 0101111 0101010101 11010111 01010111 110101 11010111 0110001 110111011 11010101 11001010001 10100101 11011101 01101011 11010010101 1101111 11011101 11011101 11110101 110111 011101001 110010010101 010111111 1101110101 0101110101 010110101 11
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 4,110
Words 713
Sentences 36
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 3, 17, 20, 14, 24, 14, 16, 12
Lines Amount 120
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 412
Words per stanza (avg) 88
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

3:49 min read
57

Thomas Love Peacock

Thomas Love Peacock was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. more…

All Thomas Love Peacock poems | Thomas Love Peacock Books

0 fans

Discuss this Thomas Love Peacock poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Palmyra (1st Edition)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36753/palmyra-%281st-edition%29>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    1
    day
    18
    hours
    5
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    The opposite of poetry is _______.
    A Verse
    B Prose
    C Somnolence
    D Literalism