An Ode III. 2
By Sulmo's bard of mournful fame,By gentle Otway's magic name,By him, the youth, who smiled at death,And rashly dared to stop his vital breath,Will I thy pangs proclaim;For still to misery closely thou'rt allied,Though gaudy pageants glitter by thy side,And far resounding Fame.What though to thee the dazzled millions bow,And to thy posthumous merit bend them low;Though unto thee the monarch looks with awe,And thou at thy flash'd car dost nations draw,Yet, ah! unseen behind thee flyCorroding Anguish, soul-subduing Pain,And Discontent that clouds the fairest sky,A melancholy train.
Yes, Genius, thee a thousand cares await,Mocking thy derided state;Thee chill Adversity will still attend,Before whose face flies fast the summer's friendAnd leaves thee all forlorn;While leaden Ignorance rears her head and laughs,And fat Stupidity shakes his jolly sides,And while the cup of affluence he quaffsWith bee-eyed Wisdom, Genius derides,Who toils, and every hardship doth outbrave,To gain the meed of praise when he is mouldering in his grave.
Words in this poem
- posthumous a.
- Born after the death of the father, or taken from the dead body of the mother; as, a posthumous son or daughter. [L. posthumus, postumus, properly, last; hence, late born (applied to children born after the father's death, or after he had made his will), superl. of posterus]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- adversity n.
- Opposition; contrariety. Wyclif. [OE. adversite, F. adversité, fr. L. adversitas.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- affluence n.
- A flowing to or towards; a concourse; an influx. [F. affluence, L. affluentia, fr. affluens, p. pr. of affluere to flow to; ad + fluere to flow. See Flux.]
- outbrave v. t.
- To excel in bravery o
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Ode III. 2 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, Project Gutenberg ebook #7149; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Kirke White, An Ode III. 2, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/an-ode-iii-2.html, id L10105.
Form and metre
An Ode III. 2 is 27 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 11% 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 AABBACCADDEEFGFG fameA · nameA · deathB · breathB · proclaimA · alliedC · sideC · fameA · bowD · lowD · aweE · drawE · flyF · painG · skyF · trainG
- 2 AABB-CDCDEE awaitA · stateA · attendB · friendB · forlorn · laughsC · sidesD · quaffsC · deridesD · outbraveE · graveE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| By Sulmo's bard of mournful fame, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By gentle Otway's magic name, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By him, the youth, who smiled at death, | 9 | ······˘·· |
| And rashly dared to stop his vital breath, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Will I thy pangs proclaim; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For still to misery closely thou'rt allied, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Though gaudy pageants glitter by thy side, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And far resounding Fame. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| What though to thee the dazzled millions bow, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And to thy posthumous merit bend them low; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Though unto thee the monarch looks with awe, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| And thou at thy flash'd car dost nations draw, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yet, ah! unseen behind thee fly | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Corroding Anguish, soul-subduing Pain, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And Discontent that clouds the fairest sky, | 10 | ·˘˘/···/˘· |
| A melancholy train. | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| Yes, Genius, thee a thousand cares await, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Mocking thy derided state; | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Thee chill Adversity will still attend, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| Before whose face flies fast the summer's friend | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And leaves thee all forlorn; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| While leaden Ignorance rears her head and laughs, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And fat Stupidity shakes his jolly sides, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And while the cup of affluence he quaffs | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| With bee-eyed Wisdom, Genius derides, | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘/ |
| Who toils, and every hardship doth outbrave, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| To gain the meed of praise when he is mouldering in his grave. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
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