To Mæcenas: Book II: , Ode the Second
Dark in the Miser's chest, in hoarded heaps,Can Gold, my SALLUST, one true joy bestow,Where sullen, dim, and valueless it sleeps,Whose worth, whose charms, from circulation flow?Ah! then it shines attractive on the thought,Rises, with such resistless influence fraughtAs puts to flight pale Fear, and Scruple cold,Till Life, e'en Life itself, becomes less dear than Gold.
Rome, of this power aware, thy honor'd nameO Proculeius! ardently adores,Since thou didst bid thy ruin'd Brothers claimA filial right in all thy well-earn'd stores.--To make the good deed deathless as the great,Yet fearing for her plumes Icarian fate,This Record, Fame, of precious trust aware,Shall long, on cautious wing, solicitously bear.
And thou, my SALLUST, more complete thy sway,Restraining the insatiate lust of gain,Than should'st thou join, by Conquest's proud essay,Iberian hills to Libya's sandy plain;Than if the Carthage sultry Afric boasts,With that which smiles on Europe's lovelier coasts,Before the Roman arms, led on by thee,Should bow the yielding head, the tributary knee.
See bloated Dropsy added strength acquireAs the parch'd lip the frequent draught obtains;Indulgence feeds the never-quench'd desire,That loaths the viand, and the goblet drains.Nor could exhausted floods the thirst subdueTill that dire Cause, which spreads the livid hueO'er the pale Form, with watry languor swell'd,From the polluted veins, by medicine, be expell'd.
Virtue, whate'er the dazzled Vulgar dream,Denies Phraätes, seated on thy throne,Immortal Cyrus, Joy's internal gleam,And thus she checks the Crowd's mistaken tone;“He, only he, who, calmly passing by,Not once shall turn the pure, unwishing eyeOn heaps of massy gold, that near him glare,My amaranthine wreath, my diadem shall wear.”
Words in this poem 18
- 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.]
- valueless a.
- Being of no value; having no worth.
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- scruple n.
- A weight of twenty grains; the third part of a dram. [L. scrupulus a small sharp or pointed stone, the twenty-fourth part of an ounce, a scruple, uneasiness, doubt, dim. of scrupus a rough or sharp stone, anxiety, ]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- filial a.
- Of or pertaining to a son or daughter; becoming to a child in relation to his parents; as, filial obedience. [L. filialis, fr. filius son, filia daughter; akin to e. female, feminine. Cf. Fitz.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- icarian a.
- Soaring too high for safety, like Icarus; adventurous in flight.
- 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,]
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- iberian a.
- Of or pertaining to Iberia.
- viand n.
- An article of food; provisions; food; victuals; -- used chiefly in the plural. [F. viande meat, food, LL. vianda, vivanda, vivenda, properly, things to live on, fr. L. vivere to live; akin to vivus living. See Vivid, and cf. Victualis.]
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- massy a.
- Compacted into, or consisting of, a mass; having bulk and weight ot substance; ponderous; bulky and heavy; weight; heavy; as, a massy shield; a massy rock.
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- amaranthine a.
- Of or pertaining to amaranth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mæcenas: Book II: , Ode the Second 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 II: , Ode the Second, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/to-m-cenas-book-ii-ode-the-second.html, id L09831.
Form and metre
To Mæcenas: Book II: , Ode the Second is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCCDD. 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 10.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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 ABABCCDD heapsA · bestowB · sleepsA · flowB · thoughtC · fraughtC · coldD · goldD
- 2 ABABCCDD nameA · adoresB · claimA · storesB · greatC · fateC · awareD · bearD
- 3 ABABCCDD swayA · gainB · essayA · plainB · boastsC · coastsC · theeD · kneeD
- 4 ABABCCDD acquireA · obtainsB · desireA · drainsB · subdueC · hueC · swell'dD · expell'dD
- 5 ABABCCDD dreamA · throneB · gleamA · toneB · byC · eyeC · glareD · wearD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dark in the Miser's chest, in hoarded heaps, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Can Gold, my SALLUST, one true joy bestow, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Where sullen, dim, and valueless it sleeps, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Whose worth, whose charms, from circulation flow? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Ah! then it shines attractive on the thought, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Rises, with such resistless influence fraught | 10 | /˘··˘/˘/˘· |
| As puts to flight pale Fear, and Scruple cold, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Till Life, e'en Life itself, becomes less dear than Gold. | 12 | ····˘/˘/···· |
| Rome, of this power aware, thy honor'd name | 10 | ···/˘/·/˘· |
| O Proculeius! ardently adores, | 9 | ····/˘˘˘/ |
| Since thou didst bid thy ruin'd Brothers claim | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| A filial right in all thy well-earn'd stores.-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To make the good deed deathless as the great, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yet fearing for her plumes Icarian fate, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘· |
| This Record, Fame, of precious trust aware, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Shall long, on cautious wing, solicitously bear. | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| And thou, my SALLUST, more complete thy sway, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Restraining the insatiate lust of gain, | 11 | ˘/˘·˘/˘˘··· |
| Than should'st thou join, by Conquest's proud essay, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Iberian hills to Libya's sandy plain; | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Than if the Carthage sultry Afric boasts, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| With that which smiles on Europe's lovelier coasts, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Before the Roman arms, led on by thee, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Should bow the yielding head, the tributary knee. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·˘· |
| See bloated Dropsy added strength acquire | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| As the parch'd lip the frequent draught obtains; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Indulgence feeds the never-quench'd desire, | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| That loaths the viand, and the goblet drains. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Nor could exhausted floods the thirst subdue | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Till that dire Cause, which spreads the livid hue | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O'er the pale Form, with watry languor swell'd, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| From the polluted veins, by medicine, be expell'd. | 12 | ··˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Virtue, whate'er the dazzled Vulgar dream, | 11 | /˘˘˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Denies Phraätes, seated on thy throne, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Immortal Cyrus, Joy's internal gleam, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And thus she checks the Crowd's mistaken tone; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| “He, only he, who, calmly passing by, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Not once shall turn the pure, unwishing eye | 10 | ·········· |
| On heaps of massy gold, that near him glare, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My amaranthine wreath, my diadem shall wear.” | 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.