Analysis of The Noon Quatrains
Charles Cotton 1630 (Alstonefield) – 1687
THE Day grows hot, and darts his rays
From such a sure and killing place,
That half this World are fain to fly
The danger of his burning eye.
His early glories were benign,
Warm to be felt, bright to be seen,
And all was comfort, but who can
Endure him when Meridian?
Of him we as of kings complain,
Who mildly do begin to reign,
But to the Zenith got of pow'r,
Those whom they should protect devour.
Has not another Phaeton
Mounted the chariot of the Sun,
And, wanting art to guide his horse,
Is hurri'd from the Sun's due course.
If this hold on, our fertile lands
Will soon be turn'd to parched sands,
And not an onion that will grow
Without a Nile to overflow.
The grazing herds now droop and pant,
E'en without labour fit to faint,
And willingly forsook their meat
[food]
To seek out cover from the heat.
The lagging ox is no unbound,
From larding
the new turn'd up ground, [pressing down]
Whilst Hobbinal alike o'er-laid
, [burdened]
Takes his coarse dinner to the shade.
Cellars and grottos now are best
To eat and drink in, or to rest,
And not a soul above is found
Can find a refuge under ground.
When pagan tyranny grew hot,
Thus persecuted Christians got
Into the dark but friendly womb
Of unknown subterranean Rome
. [the Roman catacombs]
And as that heat did cool at last,
So a few scorching hours o'er-pass'd,
In a more mild and temp'rate ray
We may again enjoy the Day.
Scheme | ABCCDEFGHHIJDGKKLLMMNOPQPRSTUVUWWRRXXYZ1 2 2 3 3 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110111 11010101 11111111 01011101 11010001 11111111 01110111 01110100 11111101 11010111 110101111 111101010 110101 100100101 01011111 11010111 111110101 1111111 01110111 0101110 01011101 11011111 01000111 1 11110101 01011101 11 0111111 1101101 10 11110101 1001111 11010111 01010111 11010101 11010011 1100101 01011101 101001001 01010 01111111 1011010101 00110111 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,388 |
Words | 260 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 44 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,079 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 260 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 100 Views
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"The Noon Quatrains" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5082/the-noon-quatrains>.
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