Analysis of Macer : A Character
Alexander Pope 1688 (London) – 1744 (Twickenham)
When simple Macer, now of high renown,
First fought a Poet's Fortune in the Town,
'Twas all th' Ambition his high soul could feel,
To wear red stockings, and to dine with Steele.
Some Ends of verse his Betters might afford,
And gave the harmless fellow a good word.
Set up with these he ventur'd on the Town,
And with a borrow'd Play, out-did poor Crown.
There he stopp'd short, nor since has write a tittle,
But has the wit to make the most of little;
Like stunted hide-bound Trees, that just have got
Sufficient sap at once to bear and rot.
Now he begs Verse, and what he gets commends,
Not of the Wits his foes, but Fools his friends.
So some coarse Country Wench, almost decay'd,
Trudges to town, and first turns Chambermaid;
Awkward and supple, each devoir to pay;
She flatters her good Lady twice a day;
Thought wond'rous honest, tho' of mean degree,
And strangely lik'd for her Simplicity:
In a translated Suit, then tries the Town,
With borrow'd Pins, and Patches not her own:
But just endur'd the winter she began,
And in four months a batter'd Harridan.
Now nothing left, but wither'd, pale, and shrunk,
To bawd for others, and go shares with Punk.
Scheme | AABBCXAADDEEFF XCGGHHAXXAII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111101 1101010001 111101011111 1111001111 1111110101 0101010011 1111110101 010111111 11111111010 11011101110 1101111111 0101111101 1111011101 1101111111 111101101 10110111 100101111 110110101 111011101 0101100100 0001011101 111010101 1101010101 00110101 1101110101 1111001111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,144 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 12 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 446 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 105 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 50 Views
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"Macer : A Character" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/477/macer-%3A-a-character>.
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