Socrates

Edward Young 1681 (Upham) – 1765 (Welwyn)



Night is fair Virtue's immemorial friend.
The conscious moon through every distant age
Has held a lamp to Wisdom, and let fall
On Contemplation's eye her purging ray.
The famed Athenian, he who wooed from heaven
Philosophy the fair, to dwell with men,
And form their manners, not inflame their pride;
While o'er his head, as fearful to molest
His laboring mind, the stars in silence slide,
And seem all gazing on their future guest,
See him soliciting his ardent suit,
In private audience; all the livelong night
Rigid in thought and motionless he stands,
Nor quits his theme or posture, till the sun
Disturbs his nobler intellectual beam,
And gives him to the tumult of the world.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
140

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHGHIJKELM
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 676
Words 120
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Edward Young

Edward Young, LVO is the current Deputy Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. more…

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    Quiz

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    Which of these famous poems is written in villanelle form?
    A Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
    B Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
    C The Owl And The Pussycat
    D Funeral Blues