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Odes

Henry Kirke White (1785–1806) · 1803–1806

iambic pentameter · 19 lines · from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White

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To my LyreTo an early PrimroseOde addressed to H. Fuseli, Esq. R. A.To the Earl of Carlisle, K. G.To ContemplationTo the Genius of RomanceTo MidnightTo ThoughtGeniusFragment of an Ode to the MoonTo the MuseTo LoveOn Whit-MondayTo the Wind, at MidnightTo the Harvest MoonTo the Herb RosemaryTo the MorningOn DisappointmentOn the Death of Dermody the Poet

Words in this poem

whit n.
The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence. [OE. wight, wiht, AS. wiht a creature, a thing. See Wight, and cf. Aught, Naught.]
disappointment n.
The act of disappointing, or the state of being disappointed; defeat or failure of expectation or hope; miscarriage of design or plan; frustration. [Cf. F. désappointement.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Odes 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, Odes, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/odes.html, id L10044.

Form and metre

Odes is 19 lines in a single stanza. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.3 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 90% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

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. 1 --A---B--C--ABC---- lyre · primrose · aA · g · contemplation · romance · midnightB · thought · genius · moonC · muse · love · mondayA · midnightB · moonC · rosemary · morning · disappointment · poet
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. How this is done.

LineSyl.Stress
To my Lyre3···
To an early Primrose6··/˘/·
Ode addressed to H. Fuseli, Esq. R. A.11·˘/········
To the Earl of Carlisle, K. G.8····/···
To Contemplation5··˘/˘
To the Genius of Romance7··/˘·˘/
To Midnight3·/·
To Thought2··
Genius2/˘
Fragment of an Ode to the Moon8/˘······
To the Muse3···
To Love2··
On Whit-Monday4··/˘
To the Wind, at Midnight6····/·
To the Harvest Moon5··/˘·
To the Herb Rosemary6···/·˘
To the Morning4··/˘
On Disappointment5··˘/˘
On the Death of Dermody the Poet10····/˘˘·/˘

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.

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