Analysis of Upon a Visit to a Lady of Quality
William Shenstone 1714 (Halesowen) – 1763 (Halesowen)
On fair Asteria's blissful plains,
Where ever-blooming fancy reigns,
How pleased we pass the winter's day,
And charm the dull-eyed Spleen away!
No linnet, from the leafless bough,
Pours forth her note melodious now,
But all admire Asteria's tongue,
Nor wish the linnet's vernal song.
No flowers emit their transient rays;
Yet sure Asteria's wit displays
More various tints, more glowing lines,
And with perennial beauty shines.
Though rifled groves and fetter'd streams
But ill befriend a poet's dreams;
Asteria's presence wakes the lyre,
And well supplies poetic fire.
The fields have lost their lovely dye;
No cheerful azure decks the sky:
Yet still we bless the lowering day;
Asteria smiles-and all is gay.
Hence let the Muse no more presume,
To blame the winter's dreary gloom;
Accuse his loitering hours no more,
But, ah! their envious haste deplore.
For soon, from Wit and Friendship's reign,
The social hearth, the sprightly vein,
I go-to meet the coming year,
On savage plains, and deserts drear!
I go-to feed on pleasures flown,
Nor find the spring my loss atone;
But, 'mid the flowery sweets of May,
With pride recall this winter's day.
Scheme | AABB CCXX DDEE FFGX HHBB IIJJ KKXG LLBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 111101 11010101 11110101 01011101 11010101 110101001 110111 1101101 110011101 111101 110011101 010100101 11010101 11010101 110101 010101010 01111101 11010101 111101001 110111 11011101 11010101 0111001011 111100101 1111011 01010101 11110101 11010101 11111101 11011101 110100111 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,123 |
Words | 192 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 113 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 59 Views
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