Analysis of Elegy XXV. To Delia, With Some Flowers
William Shenstone 1714 (Halesowen) – 1763 (Halesowen)
Whate'er could Sculpture's curious art employ,
Whate'er the lavish hand of Wealth can shower,
These would I give-and every gift enjoy,
That pleased my fair-but Fate denies the power.
Bless'd were my lot to feed the social fires!
To learn the latent wishes of a friend!
To give the boon his native taste admires,
And, for my transport, on his smile depend!
Bless'd, too, is he whose evening ramble strays
Where droop the sons of Indigence and Care!
His little gifts their gladden'd eyes amaze,
And win, at small expence, their fondest prayer!
And, oh! the joy, to shun the conscious light;
To spare the modest blush; to give unseen!
Like showers that fall behind the veil of night,
Yet deeply tinge the smiling vales with green.
But happiest they who drooping realms relieve!
Whose virtues in our cultured vales appear!
For whose sad fate a thousand shepherds grieve,
And fading fields allow the grief sincere.
To call lost Worth from its oppressive shade
To fix its equal sphere, and see it shine,
To hear it grateful own the generous aid:
This, this is transport-but must ne'er be mine.
Faint is my bounded bliss; nor I refuse
To range where daisies open, rivers roll,
While prose or song the languid hours amuse,
And sooth the fond impatience of my soul.
Awhile I'll weave the roofs of jasmine bowers,
And urge with trivial cares the loitering year;
Awhile I'll prune my grove, protect my flowers,
Then, unlamented, press an early bier!
Of those loved flowers the lifeless corse may share,
Some hireling hand a fading wreath bestow;
The rest will breathe as sweet, will glow as fair,
As when their master smiled to see them glow.
The sequent morn shall wake the sylvan quire;
The kid again shall wanton ere 'tis noon;
Nature will smile, will wear her best attire;
O let not gentle Delia smile so soon!
While the rude hearse conveys me slow away,
And careless eyes my vulgar fate proclaim,
Let thy kind tear my utmost worth o'erpay,
And, softly sighing, vindicate my fame.-
O Delia! cheer'd by thy superior praise,
I bless the silent path the Fates decree;
Pleased, from the list of my inglorious days,
To raise the moments crown'd with bliss and thee.
Scheme | ABAB CDXD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KLKL MNMN CJCX FOFO XPBP XQXQ ERER |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (92%) |
Metre | 1011100101 10010111110 11110100101 11111101010 10111101010 1101010101 1101110101 0110111101 1111110101 11011101 110111101 011111101 0101110101 1101011101 11011010111 1101010111 11001110101 11001010101 1111010101 0101010101 1111110101 1111010111 11110101001 1110111111 1111011101 1111010101 11110101001 0101010111 01110111010 011100101001 01111101110 1111101 11110010111 111010101 0111111111 1111011111 0101110101 0101110111 10111101010 1111010111 1011011101 0101110101 11111111 0101010011 11011101001 1101010101 11011101001 1101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,114 |
Words | 381 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:58 min read
- 51 Views
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