Taste

Mark Akenside 1721 (Newcastle upon Tyne) – 1770



What, then, is taste but those internal powers,
Active and strong, and feeling alive
To each fine impulse? a discerning sense
Of decent and sublime, with quick disgust
From things deformed, or disarranged and gross
In species. This nor gems nor stores of gold,
Nor purple state nor culture can bestow;
But God alone, when first His active hand
Imprints the secret bias of the soul.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

20 sec read
430

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHI
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 381
Words 68
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 9

Mark Akenside

Mark Akenside was an English poet and physician. more…

All Mark Akenside poems | Mark Akenside Books

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