Analysis of From Menander
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Fond youth! who dream'st that hoarded gold
Is needful not alone to pay
For all thy various items sold,
To serve the wants of every day;
Bread, vinegar, and oil, and meat,
For savory viands season'd high;
But somewhat more important yet--
I tell thee what it cannot buy.
No treasure hadst thou more amass'd
Than fame to Tantalus assign'd,
Would save thee from a tomb at last,
But thou must leave it all behind.
I give thee, therefore, counsel wise;
Confide not vainly in thy store,
However large -- much less despise
Others comparatively poor;
But in thy more exalted state
A just and equal temper show
That all who see thee rich and great,
May deem thee worthy to be so.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DEDE FXFX GHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111111101 11010111 111100101 110111001 11000101 11001101 11110101 11111101 11011101 11110001 11110111 11111101 1111101 01110011 1011101 10010001 10110101 01010101 11111101 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 660 |
Words | 125 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 104 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 69 Views
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"From Menander" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39860/from-menander>.
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