Analysis of To Giovanni Salzilli, A Roman Poet, In His Illness. Scazons (Translated From Milton)
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
My halting Muse, that dragg'st by choice along
Thy slow, slow step, in melancholy song!
And lik'st that pace expressive of thy cares
Not less than Diopeia's sprightlier airs
When in the dance she beats with measur'd tread
Heav'n's floor in front of Juno's golden bed,
Salute Salsillus, who to verse divine
Prefers, with partial love, such lays as mine.
Thus writes that Milton then, who wafted o'er
From his own nest on Albion's stormy shore
Where Eurus, fiercest of th'Aeolian band,
Sweeps with ungovern'd rage the blasted land,
Of late to more serene Ausonia came
To view her cities of illustrious name,
To prove, himself a witness of the truth,
How wise her elders, and how learn'd her Youth.
Much good, Salsillus! and a body free
From all disease, that Milton asks for thee,
Who now endur'st the languor, and the pains
That bile inflicts diffus'd through all thy veins,
Relentless malady! not mov'd to spare
By thy sweet Roman voice, and Lesbian air!
Health, Hebe's sister, sent us from the skies,
And thou, Apollo, whom all sickness flies,
Pythius, or Paean, or what name divine
Soe'er thou chuse, haste, heal a priest of thine!
Ye groves of Faunus, and ye hills that melt
With vinous dews, where meek Evander dwelt!
If aught salubrious in your confines grow,
Strive which shall soonest heal your poet's woe,
That, render'd to the Muse he loves, again
He may enchant the meadows with his strain.
Numa, reclin'd in everlasting ease
Amid the shade of dark embow'ring trees,
Viewing with eyes of unabated fire
His loved Aegeria, shall that strain admire:
So sooth'd, the tumid Tiber shall revere
The tombs of kings, nor desolate the year,
Shall curb his waters with a friendly rein,
And guide them harmless till they meet the main.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMDDNNOOPQRRESTTQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101111101 111101001 0111010111 111111 1001111101 1101110101 01111101 0111011111 11110111010 111111101 1110111 11110101 11110111 11010101001 1101010101 1101001101 11100101 1101110111 11101001 1101011111 0101001111 11110101001 111011101 0101011101 111011101 111110111 111101111 11111101 1110111 1111011101 1101011101 110101111 10100101 01011111 1011101010 11111101 110110101 0111110001 1111010101 0111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,703 |
Words | 302 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 40 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,357 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 300 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
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"To Giovanni Salzilli, A Roman Poet, In His Illness. Scazons (Translated From Milton)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40215/to-giovanni-salzilli%2C-a-roman-poet%2C-in-his-illness.-scazons-%28translated-from-milton%29>.
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