Ode on Science
O, heavenly born! in deepest dellsIf fairest science ever dwellsBeneath the mossy cave;Indulge the verdure of the woods,With azure beauty gild the floods,And flowery carpets lave.
For, Melancholy ever reignsDelighted in the sylvan scenesWith scientific light;While Dian, huntress of the vales,Seeks lulling sounds and fanning gales,Though wrapt from mortal sight.
Yet, goddess, yet the way exploreWith magic rites and heathen loreObstructed and depress'd;Till Wisdom give the sacred Nine,Untaught, not uninspired, to shine,By Reason's power redress'd.
When Solon and Lycurgus taughtTo moralize the human thoughtOf mad opinion's maze,To erring zeal they gave new laws,Thy charms, O Liberty, the causeThat blends congenial rays.
Bid bright Astræa gild the morn,Or bid a hundred suns be born,To hecatomb the year;Without thy aid, in vain the poles,In vain the zodiac system rolls,In vain the lunar sphere.
Come, fairest princess of the throng,Bring sweet philosophy along,In metaphysic dreams;While raptured bards no more beholdA vernal age of purer gold,In Heliconian streams.
Drive Thraldom with malignant hand,To curse some other destined land,By Folly led astray:Iërne bear on azure wing;Energic let her soar, and singThy universal sway.
So when Amphion bade the lyreTo more majestic sound aspire,Behold the madding throng,In wonder and oblivion drown'd,To sculpture turn'd by magic soundAnd petrifying song.
Words in this poem 17
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
- delighted a.
- Endowed with delight.
- huntress n.
- A woman who hunts or follows the chase; as, the huntress Diana.
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- solon n.
- A celebrated Athenian lawmaker, born about 638 b. c.; hence, a legislator; a publicist; -- often used ironically.
- moralize v. t.
- To apply to a moral purpose; to explain in a moral sense; to draw a moral from. [Cf. F. moraliser.]
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- hecatomb n.
- A sacrifice of a hundred oxen or cattle at the same time; hence, the sacrifice or slaughter of any large number of victims. [L. hecatombe, Gr. hécatombe.]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- heliconian a.
- Of or pertaining to Helicon. [L. Heliconius.]
- thraldom n.
- The condition of a thrall; slavery; bondage; state of servitude. [Icel. . See Thrall, and -dom.]
- energic a.
- In a state of action; acting; operating. [Cf. F. énergique.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- madding a.
- Affected with madness; raging; furious.
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode on Science is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #14353; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, Ode on Science, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/ode-on-science.html, id L24568.
Form and metre
Ode on Science is 48 lines in 8 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AAB--B dellsA · dwellsA · caveB · woods · floods · laveB
- 2 --ABBA reigns · scenes · lightA · valesB · galesB · sightA
- 3 AABCCB exploreA · loreA · depress'dB · nineC · shineC · redress'dB
- 4 AABCCB taughtA · thoughtA · mazeB · lawsC · causeC · raysB
- 5 AABCCB mornA · bornA · yearB · polesC · rollsC · sphereB
- 6 AABCCB throngA · alongA · dreamsB · beholdC · goldC · streamsB
- 7 AABCCB handA · landA · astrayB · wingC · singC · swayB
- 8 AABCCB lyreA · aspireA · throngB · drown'dC · soundC · songB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O, heavenly born! in deepest dells | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| If fairest science ever dwells | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Beneath the mossy cave; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Indulge the verdure of the woods, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| With azure beauty gild the floods, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And flowery carpets lave. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| For, Melancholy ever reigns | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Delighted in the sylvan scenes | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| With scientific light; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| While Dian, huntress of the vales, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Seeks lulling sounds and fanning gales, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though wrapt from mortal sight. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Yet, goddess, yet the way explore | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| With magic rites and heathen lore | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Obstructed and depress'd; | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| Till Wisdom give the sacred Nine, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Untaught, not uninspired, to shine, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| By Reason's power redress'd. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| When Solon and Lycurgus taught | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To moralize the human thought | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of mad opinion's maze, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To erring zeal they gave new laws, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy charms, O Liberty, the cause | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| That blends congenial rays. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Bid bright Astræa gild the morn, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Or bid a hundred suns be born, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To hecatomb the year; | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Without thy aid, in vain the poles, | 8 | ········ |
| In vain the zodiac system rolls, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| In vain the lunar sphere. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Come, fairest princess of the throng, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Bring sweet philosophy along, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| In metaphysic dreams; | 6 | ······ |
| While raptured bards no more behold | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A vernal age of purer gold, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In Heliconian streams. | 6 | ······ |
| Drive Thraldom with malignant hand, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To curse some other destined land, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| By Folly led astray: | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Iërne bear on azure wing; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Energic let her soar, and sing | 8 | ········ |
| Thy universal sway. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| So when Amphion bade the lyre | 7 | ······· |
| To more majestic sound aspire, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Behold the madding throng, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| In wonder and oblivion drown'd, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To sculpture turn'd by magic sound | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And petrifying song. | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
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.