Analysis of Occasional Address
Charlotte Smith 1749 (London) – 1806 (Tilford, Surrey)
Written for the benefit of a distressed Player, detained
at Brighthelmstone for Debt, November 1792.
WHEN in a thousand swarms, the summer o'er,
The birds of passage quit our English shore,
By various routs the feather'd myriad moves;
The Becca-Fica seeks Italian groves,
No more a Wheat-ear ; while the soaring files
Of sea-fowl gather round the Hebrid isles.
But if by bird-lime touch'd, unplumed, confined,
Some poor ill-fated straggler stays behind,
Driven from his transient perch, beneath your eaves
On his unshelter'd head the tempest raves,
While drooping round, redoubling every pain,
His mate and nestlings ask his help in vain.
So we, the buskin and the sock who wear,
And 'strut and fret,' our little season here,
Dismiss'd at length, as fortune bids divide--
Some (lucky rogues!) sit down on Thames's side;
Others to Liffy's western banks proceed,
And some--driven far a-field, across the Tweed:
But, pinion'd here, alas! I cannot fly:
The hapless, unplumed, lingering straggler I!
Unless the healing pity you bestow,
Shall imp my shatter'd wings, and let me go.
Hard is his fate, whom evil stars have led
To seek in scenic art precarious bread,
While still, through wild vicissitudes afloat,
A hero now, and now a Sans Culotte!
That eleemosynary bread he gains
Mingling, with real distresses, mimic pains.
See in our group, a pale, lank Falstaff stare!
Much needs he stuffing:--while young Ammon there
Rehearses--in a garret--ten feet square!
And as his soft Statira sighs consent,
Roxana comes not--but a dun for rent!
Here shiv'ring Edgar, in his blanket roll'd,
Exclaims--with too much reason, 'Tom's a-cold! '
And vainly tries his sorrows to divert,
While Goneril or Regan --wash his shirt!
Lo! fresh from Calais, Edward, mighty king!
Revolves--a mutton chop upon a string!
And Hotspur, plucking 'honour from the moon,'
Feeds a sick infant with a pewter spoon!
More bless'd the fisher, who undaunted braves
In his small bark, the impetuous winds and waves;
For though he plough the sea when others sleep,
He draws, like Glendower, spirits from the deep.
And while the storm howls round, amidst his trouble,
Bright moonshine still illuminates the cobble.
Pale with her fears for him, some fair Poissarde ,
Watches his nearing boat; with fond regard
Smiles when she sees his little canvass handing,
And clasps her dripping lover on his landing.
More bless'd the peasant , who, with nervous toil
Hews the rough oak, or breaks the stubborn soil:
Weary, indeed, he sees the evening come,
But then, the rude, yet tranquil hut, his home,
Receives its rustic inmate; then are his,
Secure repose, and dear domestic bliss.
The orchard's blushing fruit, the garden's store,
The pendant hop, that mantles round the door,
Are his:--and while cheerful faggots burn,
'His lisping children hail their site's return.'
But wandering Players, 'unhousel'd, unanneal'd,'
And unappointed, scour life's common field,
A flying squadron!--disappointments cross 'em,
And the campaign concludes, perhaps, at Horsham.
Oh! ye, whose timely bounty deigns to shed
Compassion's balm upon my luckless head,
Benevolence, with warm and glowing breast,
And soft, celestial mercy, doubly bless'd!
Smile on the generous act!--where means are given,
To aid the wretched--is to merit heaven.
Scheme | ABBCXX DDEEXFGGHXIIJJKKLLMMXANNHHHOOPPQQRRSSFFTT UUAXRRVVWXXXCCXXAXXWMMYYZZ |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101010010011001 1111010 10010101010 01110110101 110010101001 0101010101 1101110101 111101011 111111101 1111010101 10111010111 11110101 110101001001 1101011101 110100111 01011010101 0111110101 110111111 101110101 01101010101 111011101 0101100101 0101010101 1111010111 1111110111 11010101001 1111010001 010101011 11111 10011010101 1010101111 1111011101 0100010111 01111101 0101110111 111001101 0111110101 0101110101 11110111 1110110101 0101010101 01101101 1011010101 1101010101 01110010101 1111011101 111110101 01011101110 111010010 110111111 1011011101 11111101010 01010101110 1101011101 1011110101 1001110101 1101110111 011101111 0101010101 011010101 0101110101 11011011 111011101 11001011 01101101 01010001011 00010101110 1111010111 11011101 0100110101 0101010101 110100111110 11010111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 3,207 |
Words | 535 |
Sentences | 30 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 41, 26 |
Lines Amount | 73 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 849 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 176 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:45 min read
- 67 Views
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"Occasional Address" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5576/occasional-address>.
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