Analysis of Ode To Lycoris. May 1817
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
AN age hath been when Earth was proud
Of lustre too intense
To be sustained; and Mortals bowed
The front in self-defence.
Who 'then', if Dian's crescent gleamed,
Or Cupid's sparkling arrow streamed
While on the wing the Urchin played,
Could fearlessly approach the shade?
--Enough for one soft vernal day,
If I, a bard of ebbing time,
And nurtured in a fickle clime,
May haunt this horned bay;
Whose amorous water multiplies
The flitting halcyon's vivid dyes;
And smooths her liquid breast--to show
These swan-like specks of mountain snow,
White as the pair that slid along the plains
Of heaven, when Venus held the reins!
In youth we love the darksome lawn
Brushed by the owlet's wing;
Then, Twilight is preferred to Dawn,
And Autumn to the Spring.
Sad fancies do we then affect,
In luxury of disrespect
To our own prodigal excess
Of too familiar happiness.
Lycoris (if such name befit
Thee, thee my life's celestial sign!)
When Nature marks the year's decline,
Be ours to welcome it;
Pleased with the harvest hope that runs
Before the path of milder suns;
Pleased while the sylvan world displays
Its ripeness to the feeding gaze;
Pleased when the sullen winds resound the knell
Of the resplendent miracle.
But something whispers to my heart
That, as we downward tend,
Lycoris! life requires an 'art'
To which our souls must bend;
A skill--to balance and supply;
And, ere the flowing fount be dry,
As soon it must, a sense to sip,
Or drink, with no fastidious lip.
Then welcome, above all, the Guest
Whose smiles, diffused o'er land and sea,
Seem to recall the Deity
Of youth into the breast:
May pensive Autumn ne'er present
A claim to her disparagement!
While blossoms and the budding spray
Inspire us in our own decay;
Still, as we nearer draw to life's dark goal,
Be hopeful Spring the favourite of the Soul!
Scheme | ABABCCDDEFFEGGHHII JKJKLLXXMNNMOOPPXX QRQRSSTTUVVUXAEEWW |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 110101 11010101 010101 1111101 1110101 11010101 110101 01111101 11011101 01000101 11111 11001010 0101101 01010111 11111101 1101110101 110110101 0111011 11011 1110111 010101 11011101 0100101 11011001 11010100 111101 11110101 11010101 1101101 11010111 01011101 11010101 1110101 110101101 10010100 11010111 111101 1101011 1110111 01110001 01010111 11110111 111101001 11001101 110110101 1110100 110101 11010110 01101 11000101 011010101 1111011111 110101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,774 |
Words | 323 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 18, 18, 18 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 475 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 106 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 11, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 65 Views
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"Ode To Lycoris. May 1817" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42294/ode-to-lycoris.--may-1817>.
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