Analysis of To Mrs. Unwin

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



Mary! I want a lyre with other strings,
Such aid from heaven as some have feigned they drew.
An eloquence scarce given to mortals, new
And undebased by praise of meaner things,
That ere through age or woe I shed my wings,
I may record thy worth with honour due,
In verse as musical as thou art true,
And that immortalises whom it sings.
But thou hast little need. There is a book
By seraphs writ with beams of heavenly light
On which the eyes of God not rarely look,
A chronicle of actions just and bright;
There all thy deeds, my faithful Mary, shine;
And, since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee mine.


Scheme ABBAABBACDCDEE
Poetic Form
Metre 1011011101 11110111111 11001101101 01111101 1111111111 110111111 0111001111 011111 1111011101 1111111001 1101111101 0100110101 1111110101 01111111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 602
Words 117
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 474
Words per stanza (avg) 115
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
38

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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