Book II: , Ode the Fourteenth
Alas! my Posthumus, the YearsUnpausing glide away;Nor suppliant hands, nor fervent prayers,Their fleeting pace delay;Nor smooth the brow, when furrowing lines descend,Nor from the stoop of Age the faltering Frame defend.
Time goads us on, relentless Sire!On to the shadowy Shape, that standsTerrific on the funeral pyre,Waving the already kindled brands.--Thou canst not slacken this reluctant speed,Tho' still on Pluto's shrine thy Hecatomb should bleed.
Beyond the dim Lake's mournful flood,That skirts the verge of mortal light,He chains the Forms, on earth that stoodProud, and gigantic in their might;That gloomy Lake, o'er whose oblivious tideKings, Consuls, Pontiffs, Slaves, in ghastly silence glide.
In vain the bleeding field we shun,In vain the loud and whelming wave;And, as autumnal winds come on,And wither'd leaves bestrew the cave,Against their noxious blast, their sullen roar,In vain we pile the hearth, in vain we close the door.
The universal lot ordainsWe seek the black Cocytus' stream,That languid strays thro' dreary plains,Where cheerless fires perpetual gleam;Where the fell Brides their fruitless toil bemoan,And Sisyphus uprolls the still-returning stone.
Thy tender wife, thy large domain,Soon shalt thou quit, at Fate's command;And of those various trees, that gainTheir culture from thy fost'ring hand,The Cypress only shall await thy doom,Follow its short-liv'd Lord, and shade his lonely tomb!
Words in this poem 16
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
- relentless a.
- Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- pyre n.
- A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt. [L. pure, Gr. Fire.]
- hecatomb n.
- A sacrifice of a hundred oxen or cattle at the same time; hence, the sacrifice or slaughter of any large number of victims. [L. hecatombe, Gr. hécatombe.]
- oblivious a.
- Promoting oblivion; causing forgetfulness. [L.obliviosus: cf.F. oblivieux.]
- bestrew v. t.
- To strew or scatter over; to besprinkle. [Spelt also bestrow.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
- bemoan v. t.
- To express deep grief for by moaning; to express sorrow for; to lament; to bewail; to pity or sympathize with. [OE. bimenen, AS. bem; pref. be- + m to moan. See Moan.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: , Ode the Fourteenth 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 Fourteenth, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/book-ii-ode-the-fourteenth.html, id L09837.
Form and metre
Book II: , Ode the Fourteenth is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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-ABB years · awayA · prayers · delayA · descendB · defendB
- 2 ABABCC sireA · standsB · pyreA · brandsB · speedC · bleedC
- 3 ABABCC floodA · lightB · stoodA · mightB · tideC · glideC
- 4 -A-ABB shun · waveA · on · caveA · roarB · doorB
- 5 ABABCC ordainsA · streamB · plainsA · gleamB · bemoanC · stoneC
- 6 ABABCC domainA · commandB · gainA · handB · doomC · tombC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alas! my Posthumus, the Years | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Unpausing glide away; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Nor suppliant hands, nor fervent prayers, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Their fleeting pace delay; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Nor smooth the brow, when furrowing lines descend, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Nor from the stoop of Age the faltering Frame defend. | 12 | ·······/˘·˘/ |
| Time goads us on, relentless Sire! | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| On to the shadowy Shape, that stands | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Terrific on the funeral pyre, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| Waving the already kindled brands.-- | 10 | /˘·˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Thou canst not slacken this reluctant speed, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Tho' still on Pluto's shrine thy Hecatomb should bleed. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Beyond the dim Lake's mournful flood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That skirts the verge of mortal light, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He chains the Forms, on earth that stood | 8 | ········ |
| Proud, and gigantic in their might; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| That gloomy Lake, o'er whose oblivious tide | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Kings, Consuls, Pontiffs, Slaves, in ghastly silence glide. | 12 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| In vain the bleeding field we shun, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In vain the loud and whelming wave; | 8 | ········ |
| And, as autumnal winds come on, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And wither'd leaves bestrew the cave, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Against their noxious blast, their sullen roar, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In vain we pile the hearth, in vain we close the door. | 12 | ············ |
| The universal lot ordains | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| We seek the black Cocytus' stream, | 8 | ········ |
| That languid strays thro' dreary plains, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where cheerless fires perpetual gleam; | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Where the fell Brides their fruitless toil bemoan, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And Sisyphus uprolls the still-returning stone. | 12 | ·/˘˘····˘/˘· |
| Thy tender wife, thy large domain, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Soon shalt thou quit, at Fate's command; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And of those various trees, that gain | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Their culture from thy fost'ring hand, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Cypress only shall await thy doom, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Follow its short-liv'd Lord, and shade his lonely tomb! | 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.