Analysis of Sparrows Self-Domesticated In Trinity College, Cambridge

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



None ever shared the social feast,
Or as an inmate or a guest,
Beneath the celebrated dome
Where once Sir Isaac had his home,
Who saw not (and with some delight
Perhaps he view’d the novel sight)
How numerous, at the tables there,
The sparrows beg their daily fare.
For there, in every nook and cell
Where such a family may dwell,
Sure as the vernal season comes
Their nest they weave in hope of crumbs,
Which kindly given, may serve with food
Convenient their unfeather’d brood;
And oft as with its summons clear
The warning bell salutes their ear,
Sagacious listeners to the sound,
They flock from all the fields around;
To reach the hospitable hall,
None more attentive to the call.
Arrived, the pensionary band,
Hopping and chirping, close at hand,
Solicit what they soon receive:
The sprinkled, plenteous donative.
Thus is a multitude, though large,
Supported at a trivial charge;
A single doit would overpay
The expenditure of every day,
And who can grudge so small a grace
To suppliants, natives of the place.


Scheme ABCCDDEEFFGGHHIJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQ
Poetic Form Etheree  (23%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 11010101 1111101 0101001 11110111 11101101 01110101 110010101 01011101 110100101 11010011 11010101 11110111 110101111 010111 01111101 01010111 1100101 11110101 11011001 11010101 01011 10010111 01011101 01011 1101011 010101001 0101110 0010011001 01111101 1110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 999
Words 179
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 30
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 807
Words per stanza (avg) 177
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
44

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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