Book II: , Ode the Eighth
BARINE, to thy always broken vowsWere slightest punishment ordain'd;Hadst thou less charming beenBy one grey hair upon thy polish'd brows;If but a single tooth were stain'd,A nail discolour'd seen,Then might I nurse the hope that, faithful grown,The FUTURE might, at length, the guilty PAST atone.
But ah! no sooner on that perjur'd head,With pomp, the votive wreaths are bound,In mockery of truth,Than lovelier grace thy faithless beauties shed;Thou com'st, with new-born conquest crown'd,The care of all our Youth,Their public care;--and murmur'd praises riseWhere'er the beams are shot of those resistless eyes.
Thy Mother's buried dust;--the midnight train,Of silent stars,--the rolling spheres,Each God, that list'ning bows,With thee it prospers, false-One! to profane.The Nymphs attend;--gay Venus hears,And all deride thy vows;And Cupid whets afresh his burning dartsOn the stone, moist with blood, that dropt from wounded hearts.
For thee our rising Youth to Manhood grow,Ordain'd thy powerful chains to wear;Nor do thy former SlavesFrom the gay roof of their false Mistress go,Tho' sworn no more to linger there;Triumphant BEAUTY bravesThe wise resolve;--and, ere they reach the door,Fixes the faltering step to thy magnetic floor.
Thee the sage Matron fears, intent to warnHer Striplings;--thee the Miser dreads,And, of thy power aware,Brides from the Fane with anxious sighs return,Lest the bright nets thy beauty spreads,Their plighted Lords ensnare,Ere fades the marriage torch; nay even now,While undispers'd the breath, that form'd the nuptial vow!
Words in this poem
- atone v. t.
- To set at one; to reduce to concord; to reconcile, as parties at variance; to appease.
- votive a.
- Given by vow, or in fulfillment of a vow; consecrated by a vow; devoted; as, votive offerings; a votive tablet. [L. votivus, fr. votum a vow: cf. F. votif. See Vow.]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- deride v. t.
- To laugh at with contempt; to laugh to scorn; to turn to ridicule or make sport of; to mock; to scoff at. [L. deridere, derisum; de- + rid to laugh. See Ridicule.]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- afresh adv.
- Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- ensnare v. t.
- To catch in a snare. See Insnare.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: , Ode the Eighth is in the public domain. This text is taken from Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace, Project Gutenberg ebook #27663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anna Seward, Book II: , Ode the Eighth, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/book-ii-ode-the-eighth.html, id L09833.
Form and metre
Book II: , Ode the Eighth is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABCABCDD, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 18% 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 AB-AB-CC vowsA · ordain'dB · been · browsA · stain'dB · seen · grownC · atoneC
- 2 ABCABCDD headA · boundB · truthC · shedA · crown'dB · youthC · riseD · eyesD
- 3 ABCABCDD trainA · spheresB · bowsC · profaneA · hearsB · vowsC · dartsD · heartsD
- 4 ABCABCDD growA · wearB · slavesC · goA · thereB · bravesC · doorD · floorD
- 5 -AB-ABCC warn · dreadsA · awareB · return · spreadsA · ensnareB · nowC · vowC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BARINE, to thy always broken vows | 9 | ····/·/˘· |
| Were slightest punishment ordain'd; | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Hadst thou less charming been | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By one grey hair upon thy polish'd brows; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| If but a single tooth were stain'd, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A nail discolour'd seen, | 6 | ······ |
| Then might I nurse the hope that, faithful grown, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The FUTURE might, at length, the guilty PAST atone. | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·˘/ |
| But ah! no sooner on that perjur'd head, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With pomp, the votive wreaths are bound, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In mockery of truth, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Than lovelier grace thy faithless beauties shed; | 11 | ······/˘/˘· |
| Thou com'st, with new-born conquest crown'd, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The care of all our Youth, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Their public care;--and murmur'd praises rise | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Where'er the beams are shot of those resistless eyes. | 13 | ˘˘/······˘/˘· |
| Thy Mother's buried dust;--the midnight train, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/·· |
| Of silent stars,--the rolling spheres, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Each God, that list'ning bows, | 6 | ······ |
| With thee it prospers, false-One! to profane. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The Nymphs attend;--gay Venus hears, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And all deride thy vows; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And Cupid whets afresh his burning darts | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| On the stone, moist with blood, that dropt from wounded hearts. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| For thee our rising Youth to Manhood grow, | 10 | ··//˘··/·· |
| Ordain'd thy powerful chains to wear; | 9 | ˘/·/˘˘··· |
| Nor do thy former Slaves | 6 | ···/˘· |
| From the gay roof of their false Mistress go, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Tho' sworn no more to linger there; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Triumphant BEAUTY braves | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| The wise resolve;--and, ere they reach the door, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Fixes the faltering step to thy magnetic floor. | 12 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Thee the sage Matron fears, intent to warn | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Her Striplings;--thee the Miser dreads, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And, of thy power aware, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Brides from the Fane with anxious sighs return, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Lest the bright nets thy beauty spreads, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their plighted Lords ensnare, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Ere fades the marriage torch; nay even now, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While undispers'd the breath, that form'd the nuptial vow! | 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.