Book II: , Ode the Twelfth
Mæcenas, I conjure thee ceaseTo wake my harp's enamour'd stringsTo tones, that fright recumbent Peace,That Pleasure flies on rapid wings!
Slow conquest on Numantia's plain,Or Hannibal, that dauntless stood,Tho' thrice he saw Ausonia's mainRedden with Carthaginian blood;
The Lapithæ's remorseless pride,Hylæus' wild inebriate hours;The Giants, who the Gods defied,And shook old Saturn's splendid towers;
These, dear Mæcenas, thou should'st paint,Each glory of thy Cæsar's reign,In eloquence, that scorns restraint,And sweeter than the Poet's strain;
Show captive Kings, who from the fightDrag at his wheels their galling chain,And the pale lip indignant biteWith mutter'd vengeance, wild and vain.
Enraptur'd by Licinia's grace,My Muse would these high themes decline,Charm'd that the heart, the form, the faceOf matchless Excellence is thine.
Ah, happy Friend! for whom an eye,Of splendid, and resistless fire,Lays all its pointed arrows by,For the mild gleams of soft desire!
With what gay spirit does she foilThe Pedant's meditated hit!What happy archness in her smile!What pointed meaning in her wit!
Her cheek how pure a crimson warms,When with the Nymphs, in circling line,Bending she twines her snowy arms,And dances round Diana's shrine!
Mæcenas, would'st not thou exchangeThe treasures gorgeous Persia pours,The wealth of Phrygia's fertile range,Or warm Arabia's spicy shores,
For one light ringlet of the hair,Which shades thy sweet Licinia's face,In that dear moment when the Fair,In flying from thy fond embrace,
Relenting turns her snowy neck,To meet thy kisses half their way,Or when her feign'd resentments checkThe ardors thy warm lips convey?
While in her eyes the languid lightBetrays a yielding wish to prove,Amid her coy, yet playful flight,The pleasing force of fervent Love;
Or when, in gaily-frolic guise,She snatches her fair self the kiss,E'en at the instant she deniesHer Lover the requested bliss.
Words in this poem 17
- conjure v. t.
- To call on or summon by a sacred name or in solemn manner; to implore earnestly; to adjure. [F. conjurer, fr. L. conjurare to swear together, to conspire; con- + jurare to swear. See Jury.]
- dauntless a.
- Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.
- carthaginian a.
- Of a pertaining to ancient Carthage, a city of northern Africa.
- remorseless a.
- Being without remorse; having no pity; hence, destitute of sensibility; cruel; insensible to distress; merciless.
- inebriate v. i.
- To become drunk.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- galling a.
- Fitted to gall or chafe; vexing; harassing; irritating.
- indignant a.
- Affected with indignation; wrathful; passionate; irate; feeling wrath, as when a person is exasperated by unworthy or unjust treatment, by a mean action, or by a degrading accusation. [L. indignans, -antis, p. pr. of indignari to be indignant, disdain. See Indign.]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- archness n.
- The quality of being arch; cleverness; sly humor free from malice; waggishness. Goldsmith.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- ringlet n.
- A small ring; a small circle; specifically, a fairy ring. [Ring + -let.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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.]
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: , Ode the Twelfth 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 Twelfth, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/book-ii-ode-the-twelfth.html, id L09836.
Form and metre
Book II: , Ode the Twelfth is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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 ABAB ceaseA · stringsB · peaceA · wingsB
- 2 ABAB plainA · stoodB · mainA · bloodB
- 3 ABAB prideA · hoursB · defiedA · towersB
- 4 ABAB paintA · reignB · restraintA · strainB
- 5 ABAB fightA · chainB · biteA · vainB
- 6 ABAB graceA · declineB · faceA · thineB
- 7 ABAB eyeA · fireB · byA · desireB
- 8 -A-A foil · hitA · smile · witA
- 9 -A-A warms · lineA · arms · shrineA
- 10 ABAB exchangeA · poursB · rangeA · shoresB
- 11 ABAB hairA · faceB · fairA · embraceB
- 12 ABAB neckA · wayB · checkA · conveyB
- 13 ABAB lightA · proveB · flightA · loveB
- 14 ABAB guiseA · kissB · deniesA · blissB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mæcenas, I conjure thee cease | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| To wake my harp's enamour'd strings | 8 | ········ |
| To tones, that fright recumbent Peace, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That Pleasure flies on rapid wings! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Slow conquest on Numantia's plain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or Hannibal, that dauntless stood, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Tho' thrice he saw Ausonia's main | 8 | ········ |
| Redden with Carthaginian blood; | 9 | /˘··˘/˘˘· |
| The Lapithæ's remorseless pride, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Hylæus' wild inebriate hours; | 9 | ···˘/˘·/˘ |
| The Giants, who the Gods defied, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And shook old Saturn's splendid towers; | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| These, dear Mæcenas, thou should'st paint, | 8 | ········ |
| Each glory of thy Cæsar's reign, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In eloquence, that scorns restraint, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| And sweeter than the Poet's strain; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Show captive Kings, who from the fight | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Drag at his wheels their galling chain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the pale lip indignant bite | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| With mutter'd vengeance, wild and vain. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Enraptur'd by Licinia's grace, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| My Muse would these high themes decline, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Charm'd that the heart, the form, the face | 8 | ········ |
| Of matchless Excellence is thine. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Ah, happy Friend! for whom an eye, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of splendid, and resistless fire, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Lays all its pointed arrows by, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For the mild gleams of soft desire! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| With what gay spirit does she foil | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Pedant's meditated hit! | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| What happy archness in her smile! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| What pointed meaning in her wit! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Her cheek how pure a crimson warms, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When with the Nymphs, in circling line, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Bending she twines her snowy arms, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| And dances round Diana's shrine! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Mæcenas, would'st not thou exchange | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The treasures gorgeous Persia pours, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The wealth of Phrygia's fertile range, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or warm Arabia's spicy shores, | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘· |
| For one light ringlet of the hair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which shades thy sweet Licinia's face, | 8 | ········ |
| In that dear moment when the Fair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In flying from thy fond embrace, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Relenting turns her snowy neck, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| To meet thy kisses half their way, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or when her feign'd resentments check | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The ardors thy warm lips convey? | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| While in her eyes the languid light | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Betrays a yielding wish to prove, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Amid her coy, yet playful flight, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The pleasing force of fervent Love; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or when, in gaily-frolic guise, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| She snatches her fair self the kiss, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| E'en at the instant she denies | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Her Lover the requested bliss. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
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.