Analysis of To The Right Honble. The Lady Dowager Torrington,



When you command, the Muse obeys,
Proud to present her humble Lays.
Of writing I'll no more repent,
Nor think my Time unwisely spent;
If Verse the Happiness procures
Of pleasing such a Soul as yours.

Endless Anxiety, I find,
Hath dire Effects upon the Mind:
A Life of unsuccessful Care
Too often sinks us to Despair.
From such a Life as this, I chuse
To snatch some Moments for the Muse;
To slight Mortality, and soar
To Worlds where Anguish is no more;
Forget Ierne's wretched State,
Tho' doom'd to share her cruel Fate;
Destin'd to pass my joyless Days,
Where Poverty, relentless, preys;
And form'd, unhappily, to grieve
For Miseries I can't relieve.

From giving Wealth my Hands are ty'd;
That great Felicity's deny'd.
Yet have I sometimes the Delight,
To help a Wretch by what I write;
To make some happier Bosoms melt;
And heal the Woes they never felt.

To Torrington, whose gen'rous Breast
Delights in raising the Diftress'd,
Adding new Honour to her Blood,
By all the Ways of doing Good,
How needless is the Poet's Art;
Since He, that made, enlarg'd her Heart?


Scheme AABBAX CCDDEEFFGGAAHH BBIIJJ XBXXKK
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 11100101 11011101 11110101 1101001 11010111 10010011 11010101 0110101 11011101 11011111 11110101 11010001 11110111 011101 11110101 1011111 11000101 01010011 11001101 11011111 1111 11101001 11011111 11110011 01011101 1100111 0101001 1011101 11011101 11010101 11110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,043
Words 191
Sentences 8
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 14, 6, 6
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 207
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:01 min read
20

Mary Barber

Mary Barber, poet, was a member of Swift's circle. more…

All Mary Barber poems | Mary Barber Books

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