Analysis of Greenwich Hospital

William Lisle Bowles 1762 (King's Sutton) – 1850



Come to these peaceful seats, and think no more
Of cold, of midnight watchings, or the roar
Of Ocean, tossing on his restless bed!
Come to these peaceful seats, ye who have bled
For honour, who have traversed the great flood,
Or on the battle's front with stern eye stood,
When rolled its thunder, and the billows red
Oft closed, with sudden flashings, o'er the dead!
Oh, heavy are the sorrows that beset
Old age! and hard it is--hard to forget
The sunshine of our youth, our manhood's pride!
But here, O aged men! ye may abide
Secure, and see the last light on the wave
Of Time, which wafts you silent to your grave;
Like the calm evening ray, that smiles serene
Upon the tranquil Thames, and cheers the sinking scene.


Scheme AABBCDBBEEFFGGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010111 11111101 1101011101 1111011111 111110011 1101011111 1111000101 1111011001 1101010101 1101111101 0111011011 111111101 0101011101 1111110111 1011011101 010101010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 712
Words 134
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 558
Words per stanza (avg) 132
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

41 sec read
101

William Lisle Bowles

William Lisle Bowles was an English poet and critic In 1783 he won the chancellors prize for Latin verse In 1789 he published in a small quarto volume Fourteen Sonnets which were received with extraordinary favour not only by the general public but by such men as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Wordsworth The Sonnets even in form were a revival a return to an older and purer poetic style and by their grace of expression melodious versification tender tone of feeling and vivid appreciation of the life and beauty of nature stood out in strong contrast to the elaborated commonplaces which at that time formed the bulk of English poetry more…

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