On A Similar Character (From The Greek)

William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)



You give your cheks a rosy stain,
With washes dye your hair;
But paint and washes both are vain
To give a youthful air.

Those wrinkles mock your daily toil,
No labor will efface 'em,
You wear a mask of smoothest oil,
Yet still with ease we trace 'em.

An art so fruitless then forsake,
Which though you much excel in,
You never can contrive to make
Old Hecuba young Helen.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

21 sec read
345

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EXEX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 369
Words 73
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

William Cowper

William Macquarie Cowper was an Australian Anglican archdeacon and Dean of Sydney. more…

All William Cowper poems | William Cowper Books

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    "On A Similar Character (From The Greek)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40018/on-a-similar-character-(from-the-greek)>.

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