To Mæcenas: Book I: , Ode the Fifth
Where roses flaunt beneath some pleasant cave,Too charming Pyrrha, what enamour'd Boy,Whose shining locks the breathing odors lave,Woos thee, exulting in a transient joy?For whom the simple band dost thou prepare,That lightly fastens back thy golden hair?
Alas! how soon shall this devoted YouthLove's tyrant sway, and thy chang'd eyes deplore,Indignant curse thy violated truth,And count each broken promise o'er and o'er,Who hopes to meet, unconscious of thy wiles,Looks ever vacant, ever facile smiles!
He, inexperienc'd Mariner! shall gazeIn wild amazement on the stormy deep,Recall the flattery of those sunny days,That lull'd each ruder wind to calmest sleep.'T was then, with jocund hope, he spread the sail,In rash dependence on the faithless gale.
Ah Wretch! to whom untried thou seemest fair!By me, who late thy halcyon surface sung,The walls of Neptune's fane inscrib'd, declareThat I have dank and dropping garments hung,Devoted to the GOD, whose kind decreeSnatch'd me to shore, from an o'erwhelming sea.
Words in this poem
- flaunt n.
- Anything displayed for show.
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- 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,]
- deplore v. t.
- To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
- 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.]
- facile a.
- Easy to be done or performed: not difficult; performable or attainable with little labor. [L. facilis, prop., capable of being done or made, hence, facile, easy, fr. facere to make, do: cf. F. facile. Srr Fact, and cf. Faculty.]
- amazement n.
- The condition of being amazed; bewilderment ; overwhelming wonder, as from surprise, sudden fear, horror, or admiration.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- dank n.
- Moisture; humidity; water.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mæcenas: Book I: , Ode the Fifth 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, To Mæcenas: Book I: , Ode the Fifth, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/to-m-cenas-book-i-ode-the-fifth.html, id L09825.
Form and metre
To Mæcenas: Book I: , Ode the Fifth is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 17% 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 caveA · boyB · laveA · joyB · prepareC · hairC
- 2 A-A-BB youthA · deplore · truthA · o'er · wilesB · smilesB
- 3 ABABCC gazeA · deepB · daysA · sleepB · sailC · galeC
- 4 ABABCC fairA · sungB · declareA · hungB · decreeC · seaC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Where roses flaunt beneath some pleasant cave, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Too charming Pyrrha, what enamour'd Boy, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Whose shining locks the breathing odors lave, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Woos thee, exulting in a transient joy? | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| For whom the simple band dost thou prepare, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| That lightly fastens back thy golden hair? | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Alas! how soon shall this devoted Youth | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| Love's tyrant sway, and thy chang'd eyes deplore, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Indignant curse thy violated truth, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘˘˘· |
| And count each broken promise o'er and o'er, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Who hopes to meet, unconscious of thy wiles, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Looks ever vacant, ever facile smiles! | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| He, inexperienc'd Mariner! shall gaze | 10 | ·˘˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| In wild amazement on the stormy deep, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Recall the flattery of those sunny days, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| That lull'd each ruder wind to calmest sleep. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| 'T was then, with jocund hope, he spread the sail, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| In rash dependence on the faithless gale. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Ah Wretch! to whom untried thou seemest fair! | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| By me, who late thy halcyon surface sung, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The walls of Neptune's fane inscrib'd, declare | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| That I have dank and dropping garments hung, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Devoted to the GOD, whose kind decree | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Snatch'd me to shore, from an o'erwhelming sea. | 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.