Analysis of The Harp, And Despair, Of Cowper
William Lisle Bowles 1762 (King's Sutton) – 1850
Sweet bard, whose tones great Milton might approve,
And Shakspeare, from high Fancy's sphere,
Turning to the sound his ear,
Bend down a look of sympathy and love;
Oh, swell the lyre again,
As if in full accord it poured an angel's strain!
But oh! what means that look aghast,
Ev'n whilst it seemed in holy trance,
On scenes of bliss above to glance!
Was it a fiend of darkness passed!
Oh, speak--
Paleness is upon his cheek--
On his brow the big drops stand,
To airy vacancy
Points the dread silence of his eye,
And the loved lyre it falls, falls from his nerveless hand!
Come, peace of mind, delightful guest!
Oh, come, and make thy downy nest
Once more on his sad heart!
Meek Faith, a drop of comfort shed;
Sweet Hope, support his aged head;
And Charity, avert the burning dart!
Fruitless the prayer--the night of deeper woes
Seems o'er the head even now to close;
In vain the path of purity he trod,
In vain, in vain,
He poured from Fancy's shell his sweetest hermit strain--
He has no hope on earth: forsake him not, O God!
Scheme | ABCDEFGHHGIIJKLJMMNOONPQRFFR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110101 011111 1010111 1101110001 110101 11010111111 11111101 111110101 11110111 11011101 11 110111 1110111 110100 10110111 00111111111 11110101 11011101 111111 11011101 1101111 0100010101 1001011101 1100110111 0101110011 0101 11111110101 111111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,008 |
Words | 193 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 28 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 786 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 191 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 44 Views
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