Book IV: , Ode the Seventh, Imitated
The snows dissolve, the rains no more pollute,Green are the sloping fields, and uplands wide,And green the trees luxuriant tresses shoot,And, in their daisied banks, the shrinking rivers glide.
Beauty, and Love, the blissful change have hail'd,While, in smooth mazes, o'er the painted mead,Aglaia ventures, with her limbs unveil'd,Light thro' the dance each Sister-Grace to lead.
But O! reflect, that Sport, and Beauty, wingTh' unpausing Hour!--if Winter, cold and pale,Flies from the soft, and violet-mantled Spring,Summer, with sultry breath, absorbs the vernal gale.
Reflect, that Summer-glories pass awayWhen mellow Autumn shakes her golden sheaves;While she, as Winter reassumes his sway,Speeds, with disorder'd vest, thro' rustling leaves.
But a short space the Moon illumes the skies;Yet she repairs her wanings, and againSilvers the vault of Night;--but no supplies,To feed their wasting fires, the lamps of Life obtain.
When our pale Form shall pensive vigils keepWhere COLLINS, AKENSIDE, and SHENSTONE roam,Or quiet with the Despot, JOHNSON, sleep,In that murk cell, the Body's final home,
To senseless dust, and to a fleeting shadeChanges the life-warm Being!--Ah! who knowsIf the next dawn our eye-lids may pervade?Darken'd and seal'd, perchance, in long, and last repose!
When vivid Thought's unceasing force assails,It shakes, from Life's frail glass, the ebbing sands;Their course run out, ah! what to us availsOur fame's high note, tho' swelling it expands!
Reflect, that each convivial joy we shareAmid encircling Friends, with grace benign,Escapes the grasp of our rapacious Heir;--Pile then the steaming board, and quaff the rosy wine!
Illustrious HAYLEY!--in that cruel hour,When o'er thee Fate the sable flag shall wave,Not thy keen wit, thy fancy's splendid power,Knowledge, or worth, shall snatch thee from the grave.
Not to his MASON's grief, from Death's dim plainsWas honor'd GRAY's departed form resign'd;No tears dissolve the cold Lethean chains,That, far from busy Life, the mortal semblance bind.
Then, for the bright creations of the brain,O! do not thou from health's gay leisure turn,Lest we, like tuneful MASON, sigh in vain,And grasp a timeless, tho' a LAUREL'D URN!
Words in this poem
- daisied a.
- Full of daisies; adorned with daisies.
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- 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,]
- murk n.
- Darkness; mirk.
- pervade v. t.
- To pass or flow through, as an aperture, pore, or interstice; to permeate. [L. pervadere, pervasum; per + vadere to go, to walk. See Per-, and Wade.]
- 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]
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- lethean a.
- Of or pertaining to Lethe; resembling in effect the water of Lethe. Milton. Barrow.
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
- timeless a.
- Done at an improper time; unseasonable; untimely.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: , Ode the Seventh, Imitated 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 IV: , Ode the Seventh, Imitated, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/book-iv-ode-the-seventh-imitated.html, id L09843.
Form and metre
Book IV: , Ode the Seventh, Imitated is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 ABAB polluteA · wideB · shootA · glideB
- 2 ABAB hail'dA · meadB · unveil'dA · leadB
- 3 ABAB wingA · paleB · springA · galeB
- 4 ABAB awayA · sheavesB · swayA · leavesB
- 5 ABAB skiesA · againB · suppliesA · obtainB
- 6 ABAB keepA · roamB · sleepA · homeB
- 7 ABAB shadeA · knowsB · pervadeA · reposeB
- 8 ABAB assailsA · sandsB · availsA · expandsB
- 9 ABAB shareA · benignB · heirA · wineB
- 10 ABAB hourA · waveB · powerA · graveB
- 11 ABAB plainsA · resign'dB · chainsA · bindB
- 12 ABAB brainA · turnB · vainA · urnB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The snows dissolve, the rains no more pollute, | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Green are the sloping fields, and uplands wide, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And green the trees luxuriant tresses shoot, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| And, in their daisied banks, the shrinking rivers glide. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Beauty, and Love, the blissful change have hail'd, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| While, in smooth mazes, o'er the painted mead, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Aglaia ventures, with her limbs unveil'd, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| Light thro' the dance each Sister-Grace to lead. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But O! reflect, that Sport, and Beauty, wing | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Th' unpausing Hour!--if Winter, cold and pale, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Flies from the soft, and violet-mantled Spring, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Summer, with sultry breath, absorbs the vernal gale. | 12 | /˘·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Reflect, that Summer-glories pass away | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| When mellow Autumn shakes her golden sheaves; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| While she, as Winter reassumes his sway, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Speeds, with disorder'd vest, thro' rustling leaves. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| But a short space the Moon illumes the skies; | 10 | ·········· |
| Yet she repairs her wanings, and again | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Silvers the vault of Night;--but no supplies, | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| To feed their wasting fires, the lamps of Life obtain. | 12 | ···/˘/····˘/ |
| When our pale Form shall pensive vigils keep | 10 | ·/···/˘/˘· |
| Where COLLINS, AKENSIDE, and SHENSTONE roam, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Or quiet with the Despot, JOHNSON, sleep, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| In that murk cell, the Body's final home, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To senseless dust, and to a fleeting shade | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Changes the life-warm Being!--Ah! who knows | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| If the next dawn our eye-lids may pervade? | 10 | ····/···˘/ |
| Darken'd and seal'd, perchance, in long, and last repose! | 12 | /˘··˘/····˘/ |
| When vivid Thought's unceasing force assails, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| It shakes, from Life's frail glass, the ebbing sands; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Their course run out, ah! what to us avails | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Our fame's high note, tho' swelling it expands! | 10 | /····/˘·˘/ |
| Reflect, that each convivial joy we share | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| Amid encircling Friends, with grace benign, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Escapes the grasp of our rapacious Heir;-- | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| Pile then the steaming board, and quaff the rosy wine! | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Illustrious HAYLEY!--in that cruel hour, | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘··//˘ |
| When o'er thee Fate the sable flag shall wave, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Not thy keen wit, thy fancy's splendid power, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Knowledge, or worth, shall snatch thee from the grave. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Not to his MASON's grief, from Death's dim plains | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Was honor'd GRAY's departed form resign'd; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| No tears dissolve the cold Lethean chains, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| That, far from busy Life, the mortal semblance bind. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Then, for the bright creations of the brain, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| O! do not thou from health's gay leisure turn, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lest we, like tuneful MASON, sigh in vain, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And grasp a timeless, tho' a LAUREL'D URN! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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.