Analysis of A Pastoral Ballad
William Shenstone 1714 (Halesowen) – 1763 (Halesowen)
Ye shepherds so cheerful and gay,
Whose flocks never carelessly roam;
Should Corydon's happen to stray,
Oh! call the poor wanderers home.
Allow me to muse and to sigh,
Nor talk of the change that ye find;
None once was so watchful as I;
I have left my dear Phillis behind.
Now I know what it is, to have strove
With the torture of doubt and desire;
What it is to admire and to love,
And to leave her we love and admire,
Ah, lead forth my flock in the morn,
And the damps of each evening repel;
Alas! I am faint and forlorn:
-I have bade my dear Phillis farewell.
Since Phillis vouchsaf'd me a look,
I never once dreamed of my vine;
May I lose both my pipe and my crook,
If I knew of a kid that was mine!
I priz'd every hour that went by,
Beyond all that had pleas'd me before;
But now they are past, and I sigh;
And I grieve that I priz'd them no more.
But why do I languish in vain;
Why wander thus pensively here?
Oh! why did I come from the plain,
Where I fed on the smiles of my dear?
They tell me, my favourite maid,
The pride of that valley, is flown;
Alas! where with her I have stray'd,
I could wander with pleasure, alone.
When forc'd the fair nymph to forgo,
What anguish I felt at my heart!
Yet I thought-but it might not be so-
'Twas with pain that she saw me depart.
She gaz'd, as I slowly withdrew:
My path I could hardly discern;
So sweetly she bade me adieu,
I thought that she bade me return.
The pilgrim that journeys all day
To visit some far distant shrine,
If he bear but a relique away,
Is happy, nor heard to repine.
Thus widely remov'd from the fair,
Where my vows, my devotion, I owe,
Soft hope is the relique I bear,
And my solace wherever I go.
Scheme | ABABCDCDXXXXEFEF GHGHCICI JXJXKLKL MNMNOPOP AHAEQMQM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011001 11101001 111011 11011001 01111011 11101111 11111011 111111001 111111111 1010110010 111101011 011011001 11111001 001111001 01111001 11111101 1101101 11011111 111111011 111101111 1110010111 011111101 11111011 011111111 11111001 110111 11111101 111101111 111111 01111011 01110111 111011001 11011101 11011111 111111111 111111101 11111001 11111001 11011101 11111101 01011011 11011101 11110101 1101111 11001101 111101011 1110111 011001011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,786 |
Words | 336 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 253 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 67 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 62 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Pastoral Ballad" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41523/a-pastoral-ballad>.
Discuss this William Shenstone poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In