Iii.—3
When midnight listens o'er the slumbering earth,Let me, O Muse, thy solemn whispers hear:When morning sends her fragrant breezes forth,With airy murmurs touch my opening ear.And ever watchful at thy side,Let Wisdom's awful suffrage guideThe tenor of thy lay:To her of old by Jove was givenTo judge the various deeds of earth and heaven;'Twas thine by gentle arts to win us to her sway.
Oft as, to well-earn'd ease resign'd,I quit the maze where Science toils,Do thou refresh my yielding mindWith all thy gay, delusive spoils.But, O indulgent, come not nighThe busy steps, the jealous eyeOf wealthy care or gainful age;Whose barren souls thy joys disdain,And hold as foes to reason's reignWhome'er thy lovely works engage.
When friendship and when letter'd mirthHaply partake my simple board,Then let thy blameless hand call forthThe music of the Teian chord.Or if invoked at softer hours,Oh! seek with me the happy bowersThat hear Olympia's gentle tongue;To beauty link'd with virtue's train,To love devoid of jealous pain,There let the Sapphic lute be strung.
But when from envy and from death to claimA hero bleeding for his native land;When to throw incense on the vestal flameOf Liberty my genius gives command,Nor Theban voice nor Lesbian lyreFrom thee, O Muse, do I require;While my presaging mind,Conscious of powers she never knew,Astonish'd, grasps at things beyond her view,Nor by another's fate submits to be confined.
Words in this poem
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- sapphic a.
- Of or pertaining to Sappho, the Grecian poetess; as, Sapphic odes; Sapphic verse.
- vestal a.
- Of or pertaining to Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth; hence, pure; chaste. [L. Vestalis belonging to Vesta, vestal. See Vesta.]
- theban a.
- Of or pertaining to Thebes. Theban year (Anc. Chron.), the Egyptian year of 365 days and 6 hours. J. Bryant. [L. Thebanus.]
- lesbian a.
- Of or pertaining to the island anciently called Lesbos, now Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Iii.—3 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside, Project Gutenberg ebook #9814; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mark Akenside, Iii.—3, in The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside (1744), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9814, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/akenside-poems/iii-3-2.html, id L09514.
Form and metre
Iii.—3 is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDEED, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABBC--C earth · hearA · forth · earA · sideB · guideB · layC · given · heaven · swayC
- 2 ABABCCDEED resign'dA · toilsB · mindA · spoilsB · nighC · eyeC · ageD · disdainE · reignE · engageD
- 3 -A-ABBCDDC mirth · boardA · forth · chordA · hoursB · bowersB · tongueC · trainD · painD · strungC
- 4 ABABCCDEED claimA · landB · flameA · commandB · lyreC · requireC · mindD · knewE · viewE · confinedD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When midnight listens o'er the slumbering earth, | 10 | ·/·/˘··/˘· |
| Let me, O Muse, thy solemn whispers hear: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| When morning sends her fragrant breezes forth, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| With airy murmurs touch my opening ear. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And ever watchful at thy side, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Let Wisdom's awful suffrage guide | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The tenor of thy lay: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To her of old by Jove was given | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| To judge the various deeds of earth and heaven; | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| 'Twas thine by gentle arts to win us to her sway. | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Oft as, to well-earn'd ease resign'd, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I quit the maze where Science toils, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Do thou refresh my yielding mind | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| With all thy gay, delusive spoils. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But, O indulgent, come not nigh | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The busy steps, the jealous eye | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of wealthy care or gainful age; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whose barren souls thy joys disdain, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And hold as foes to reason's reign | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whome'er thy lovely works engage. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When friendship and when letter'd mirth | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Haply partake my simple board, | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| Then let thy blameless hand call forth | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The music of the Teian chord. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Or if invoked at softer hours, | 10 | ··˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Oh! seek with me the happy bowers | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| That hear Olympia's gentle tongue; | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘· |
| To beauty link'd with virtue's train, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To love devoid of jealous pain, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| There let the Sapphic lute be strung. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But when from envy and from death to claim | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A hero bleeding for his native land; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| When to throw incense on the vestal flame | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Of Liberty my genius gives command, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Nor Theban voice nor Lesbian lyre | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| From thee, O Muse, do I require; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| While my presaging mind, | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Conscious of powers she never knew, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Astonish'd, grasps at things beyond her view, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Nor by another's fate submits to be confined. | 12 | ··˘/˘··/··˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.