Book IV: , Ode the Third
Not he, O MUSE! whom thy auspicious eyesIn his primeval hour beheld,Shall victor in the Isthmian Contest rise;Nor o'er the long-resounding fieldImpetuous steeds his kindling wheels shall roll,Gay in th' Olympic Race, and foremost at the goal.
Nor in the Capitol, triumphant shown,The victor-laurel on his brow,For Cities storm'd, and vaunting Kings o'erthrown;--But Tibur's streams, that warbling flow,And groves of fragrant gloom, resound his strains,Whose sweet Æolian grace high celebration gains.
Now that his name, her noblest Bards among,Th' imperial City loudly hails,That proud distinction guards his rising song,When Envy's carping tongue assails;In sullen silence now she hears his praise,Nor sheds her canker'd spots upon his springing bays.
O MUSE! who rulest each melodious layThat floats along the gilded shell,Who the mute tenant of the watry wayCanst teach, at pleasure, to excelThe softest note harmonious Sorrow brings,When the expiring Swan her own sad requiem sings.
Thine be the praise, that pointing Romans guideThe Stranger's eye, with proud desireThat well he note the Man, whom Crowds decideShould boldly string the Latian lyre.--Ah! when I charm, if still to charm be mine,Nymph of the warbling shell, be all the glory THINE!
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- capitol
- The temple of Jupiter, at Rome, on the Mona Capitolinus, where the Senate met. [L. capitolium, fr. caput head: cf. F. capitole. See Chief.]
- carping a.
- Fault-finding; censorious caviling. See Captious.
- 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.]
- expiring a.
- Breathing out air from the lungs; emitting fluid or volatile matter; exhaling; breathing the last breath; dying; ending; terminating.
- requiem n.
- A mass said or sung for the repose of a departed soul. [Acc. of L. requies rest, the first words of the Mass being "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine," give eternal rest to them, O lord; pref. re- re + quies quiet. S]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- latian a.
- Belonging, or relating, to Latium, a country of ancient Italy.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: , Ode the Third 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 Third, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/book-iv-ode-the-third.html, id L09842.
Form and metre
Book IV: , Ode the Third is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% 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 ABABCC eyesA · beheldB · riseA · fieldB · rollC · goalC
- 2 A-A-BB shownA · brow · o'erthrownA · flow · strainsB · gainsB
- 3 -A-ABB among · hailsA · song · assailsA · praiseB · baysB
- 4 ABABCC layA · shellB · wayA · excelB · bringsC · singsC
- 5 A-A-BB guideA · desire · decideA · lyre · mineB · thineB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not he, O MUSE! whom thy auspicious eyes | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| In his primeval hour beheld, | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| Shall victor in the Isthmian Contest rise; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/· |
| Nor o'er the long-resounding field | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Impetuous steeds his kindling wheels shall roll, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Gay in th' Olympic Race, and foremost at the goal. | 12 | ··˘/˘··/···· |
| Nor in the Capitol, triumphant shown, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/˘· |
| The victor-laurel on his brow, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For Cities storm'd, and vaunting Kings o'erthrown;-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But Tibur's streams, that warbling flow, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| And groves of fragrant gloom, resound his strains, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Whose sweet Æolian grace high celebration gains. | 11 | ·······˘/˘· |
| Now that his name, her noblest Bards among, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Th' imperial City loudly hails, | 9 | ˘/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| That proud distinction guards his rising song, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| When Envy's carping tongue assails; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| In sullen silence now she hears his praise, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Nor sheds her canker'd spots upon his springing bays. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| O MUSE! who rulest each melodious lay | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| That floats along the gilded shell, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Who the mute tenant of the watry way | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Canst teach, at pleasure, to excel | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The softest note harmonious Sorrow brings, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| When the expiring Swan her own sad requiem sings. | 12 | ··˘/˘····/˘· |
| Thine be the praise, that pointing Romans guide | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The Stranger's eye, with proud desire | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| That well he note the Man, whom Crowds decide | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Should boldly string the Latian lyre.-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ah! when I charm, if still to charm be mine, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nymph of the warbling shell, be all the glory THINE! | 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.