Iii.—3
While thus our vows prolongThy steps on earth, and when by us resign'dThou join'st thy seniors, that heroic throngWho rescued or preserved the rights of human kind,Oh! not unworthy may thy Albion's tongueThee still, her friend and benefactor, name:Oh! never, Hoadly, in thy country's eyes,May impious gold, or pleasure's gaudy prize,Make public virtue, public freedom, vile;Nor our own manners tempt us to disclaimThat heritage, our noblest wealth and fame,Which thou hast kept entire from force and factious guile.
Words in this poem
- disclaim v. t.
- To renounce all claim to deny; ownership of, or responsibility for; to disown; to disavow; to reject.
- heritage a.
- That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
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-3-5.html, id L09532.
Form and metre
Iii.—3 is 12 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABAB-CDDECCE prolongA · resign'dB · throngA · kindB · tongue · nameC · eyesD · prizeD · vileE · disclaimC · fameC · guileE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| While thus our vows prolong | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Thy steps on earth, and when by us resign'd | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Thou join'st thy seniors, that heroic throng | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Who rescued or preserved the rights of human kind, | 12 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘· |
| Oh! not unworthy may thy Albion's tongue | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Thee still, her friend and benefactor, name: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Oh! never, Hoadly, in thy country's eyes, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| May impious gold, or pleasure's gaudy prize, | 11 | ·˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Make public virtue, public freedom, vile; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Nor our own manners tempt us to disclaim | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| That heritage, our noblest wealth and fame, | 10 | ·/˘˘//˘··· |
| Which thou hast kept entire from force and factious guile. | 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.