On the Pleasures of Rural Life: Book V: , Epode the Fifteenth
'T was night--the moon, upon her sapphire throne,High o'er the waning stars serenely shone,When thou, false Nymph, determin'd to prophaneThem, and each Power that rules the earth, and main,As thy soft, snowy arms about me twin'd,Close as round oaks the clasping ivies wind,Swore, while the gaunt wolf shall infest the lea,And red Orion vex the wintry sea,While gales shall fan Apollo's floating locks,That shed their golden light o'er hills and rocks,So long thy breast should burn with purest fires,With mutual hopes, and with unchang'd desires.
Perjur'd Neaēra! thou shalt one day proveThe worth, the vengeance of my slighted love;For O! if Manhood steels, if Honor warms,Horace shall fly, shall scorn thy faithless charms;Seek some bright Maid, whose soul for him shall glow,Nor art, nor pride, nor wandering wishes know.
Then should'st thou languish, sigh, and weep once more,And with new vows his injur'd heart implore,Nor sighs, nor vows, nor tears shall he regardCold as the snow and as the marble hard.
And THOU, triumphant Youth, so gay, so vain,Proud of my fate, exulting in my pain,Tho' on thy hills the plenteous Herd should feed,And rich Pactolus roll along thy mead;For thee tho' Science ope the varied store,And Beauty on thy form its graces pour,Ere long shalt thou, while wrongs like these degrade,Droop with my woes, and with my rage upbraid;See on a Rival's brow thy garlands worn,And, with her falsehood, bear my jocund scorn.
Words in this poem
- waning n.
- The act or process of waning, or decreasing.
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- 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,]
- orion n.
- A large and bright constellation on the equator, between the stars Aldebaran and Sirius. It contains a remarkable nebula visible to the naked eye.
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- languish v. i.
- To cause to dr Shak.
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- upbraid n.
- The act of reproaching; contumely.
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Pleasures of Rural Life: Book V: , Epode the Fifteenth 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, On the Pleasures of Rural Life: Book V: , Epode the Fifteenth, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/on-the-pleasures-of-rural-life-book-v-epode-the-fifteenth.html, id L09847.
Form and metre
On the Pleasures of Rural Life: Book V: , Epode the Fifteenth is 32 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFF throneA · shoneA · prophaneB · mainB · twin'dC · windC · leaD · seaD · locksE · rocksE · firesF · desiresF
- 2 AA--BB proveA · loveA · warms · charms · glowB · knowB
- 3 AABB moreA · imploreA · regardB · hardB
- 4 AABBCCDDEE vainA · painA · feedB · meadB · storeC · pourC · degradeD · upbraidD · wornE · scornE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'T was night--the moon, upon her sapphire throne, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| High o'er the waning stars serenely shone, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| When thou, false Nymph, determin'd to prophane | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Them, and each Power that rules the earth, and main, | 10 | ···/······ |
| As thy soft, snowy arms about me twin'd, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Close as round oaks the clasping ivies wind, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Swore, while the gaunt wolf shall infest the lea, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And red Orion vex the wintry sea, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| While gales shall fan Apollo's floating locks, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| That shed their golden light o'er hills and rocks, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| So long thy breast should burn with purest fires, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| With mutual hopes, and with unchang'd desires. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘/ |
| Perjur'd Neaēra! thou shalt one day prove | 9 | /˘······· |
| The worth, the vengeance of my slighted love; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For O! if Manhood steels, if Honor warms, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Horace shall fly, shall scorn thy faithless charms; | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Seek some bright Maid, whose soul for him shall glow, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor art, nor pride, nor wandering wishes know. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Then should'st thou languish, sigh, and weep once more, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And with new vows his injur'd heart implore, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Nor sighs, nor vows, nor tears shall he regard | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Cold as the snow and as the marble hard. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And THOU, triumphant Youth, so gay, so vain, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Proud of my fate, exulting in my pain, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Tho' on thy hills the plenteous Herd should feed, | 11 | ·····/˘˘··· |
| And rich Pactolus roll along thy mead; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| For thee tho' Science ope the varied store, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And Beauty on thy form its graces pour, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Ere long shalt thou, while wrongs like these degrade, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Droop with my woes, and with my rage upbraid; | 10 | ········/· |
| See on a Rival's brow thy garlands worn, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And, with her falsehood, bear my jocund scorn. | 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.