Analysis of Epitaph on a Hare
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Here lies, whom hound did ne’er pursue,
Nor swiftewd greyhound follow,
Whose foot ne’er tainted morning dew,
Nor ear heard huntsman’s hallo’,
Old Tiney, surliest of his kind,
Who, nurs’d with tender care,
And to domestic bounds confin’d,
Was still a wild Jack-hare.
Though duly from my hand he took
His pittance ev’ry night,
He did it with a jealous look,
And, when he could, would bite.
His diet was of wheaten bread,
And milk, and oats, and straw,
Thistles, or lettuces instead,
With sand to scour his maw.
On twigs of hawthorn he regal’d,
On pippins’ russet peel;
And, when his juicy salads fail’d,
Slic’d carrot pleas’d him well.
A Turkey carpet was his lawn,
Whereon he lov’d to bound,
To skip and gambol like a fawn,
And swing his rump around.
His frisking wa at evening hours,
For then he lost his fear;
But most before approaching show’rs,
Or when a storm drew near.
Eight years and five round rolling moons
He thus saw steal away,
Dozing out all his idle noons,
And ev’ry night at play.
I kept him for his humour’s sake,
For he would oft beguile
My heart of thoughts that made it ache,
And force me to a smile.
But now, beneath this walnut-shade
He finds his long, last home,
And waits inn snug concealment laid,
‘Till gentler puss shall come.
He, still more aged, feels the shocks
From which no care can save,
And, partner once of Tiney’s box,
Must soon partake his grave.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH CXCX IJIJ XKAK LMLM NONO PXPX QRQR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (82%) |
Metre | 11111101 11110 11110101 11111 111111 111101 0101011 110111 11011111 11011 11110101 011111 11011101 010101 101101 1111011 111111 110101 01110101 110111 01010111 11111 1101101 011101 11111010 111111 11010101 110111 11011101 111101 10111101 01111 1111111 111101 11111111 011101 1101111 111111 01110101 110111 1111101 111111 0101111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,459 |
Words | 253 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 96 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 101 Views
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"Epitaph on a Hare" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39849/epitaph-on-a-hare>.
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