Analysis of The Reply Of Q. Horatius Flaccus To A Roman
Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)
Good friends, you urge my Odes grow trite,
And that of worthless station,
Of fleeting youth and joy, I write
With endless iteration.
But say, in mortals, base or great,
Have you a change detected?
Are they, when victors, less elate,
When vanquished, less dejected?
Do they no more in mundane mire
For golden garbage scramble?
Or, but companioned with the lyre,
Up twisting Anio ramble?
Hath fortune ceased to prove a jade?
Hath favour waxed less fickle?
Hath shamed Bellona dropped her blade,
Or Death put up his sickle?
Doth age no longer rime the hair?
Finds Virtue always supper?
Or, when cit. rides a Knight, doth Care
No more bestride the crupper?
Do not the rosy hours wax pale,
New loves old loves disherit;
And sleight of golden showers prevail
'Gainst Danae's brazen turret?
Sooth, verbum sap. But then, Jove knows!
Men are not wise, but foolish,
Whether they scan Soracte's snows,
Or those near Ballachulish.
Still, still they hug the bestial sty,
And have not changed one wee bit;
Unpleasing truth, which ``Repeti-
Ta decies (non) placebit.''
Ask such to share my Sabine meal!
To twine the parsley classic!
For such to break the Manlian seal,
And liberate my Massic!
A pretty tale! Why, ken you not,
Good friends, as lately showed I,
In verse already you've forgot,-
Profanum vulgus odi?
Fair maid or Minister I dine,
Toast Rome or Alma Venus:
When Lydia will not kiss my wine,
Why, then, I ask Maecenas.
For such and self the chords I strike
Of wisdom, love, and scorning;
And if the world my themes dislike,
Well,-gentlemen, Good morning!
Scheme | ABAB CXCX DEDE FEFE GXGD HAHX IJIJ KXAA LMLM NKNA OXOI PMPX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 11111111 0111010 11010111 1101 11010111 1101010 11110101 1101010 11110011 1101010 111101 110110 11011101 111110 111101 1111110 11110101 110110 11110111 11101 110101011 11111 011101001 111010 1111111 1111110 101111 1111 11110101 0111111 1111 1111 11111011 1101010 1111011 01011 01011111 1111011 01010101 111 11110011 1111010 110011111 11111 11010111 110101 01011101 1100110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,512 |
Words | 275 |
Sentences | 25 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 100 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 72 Views
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"The Reply Of Q. Horatius Flaccus To A Roman" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/820/the-reply-of-q.-horatius-flaccus-to-a-roman>.
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