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 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EXEX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 369 |
Words | 73 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4 |
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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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