To Sir William Davenant Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEEFFAAGGHHAAIIAA JJKKLLMMNOAAAAAAPPQQ RR| UPON HIS TWO FIRST BOOKS OF GONDIBERT | A |
| FINISHED BEFORE HIS VOYAGE TO AMERICA | B |
| METHINKS heroick poesy till now | C |
| Like some fantastick fairy land did show | D |
| Gods devils nymphs witches and giants' race | E |
| And all but man in man's chief work had place | E |
| Thou like some worthy knight with sacred arms | F |
| Dost drive the monsters thence and end the charms | F |
| Instead of those dost men and manners plant | A |
| The things which that rich soil did chiefly want | A |
| Yet ev'n thy Mortals do their Gods excel | G |
| Taught by thy Muse to fight and love so well | G |
| By fatal hands whilst present empires fall | H |
| Thine from the grave past monarchies recall | H |
| So much more thanks from human kind does merit | A |
| The Poet's fury than the zealot's spirit | A |
| And from the grave thou mak'st this empire rise | I |
| Not like some dreadful ghost t' affright our eyes | I |
| But with more lustre and triumphant state | A |
| Than when it crown'd at proud Verona sate | A |
| So will our God rebuild man's perished frame | J |
| And raise him up much better yet the same | J |
| So God like poets do past things rehearse | K |
| Not change but heighten Nature by their verse | K |
| With shame methinks great Italy must see | L |
| Her conquerors rais'd to life again by thee | L |
| Rais'd by such pow'erful verse that ancient Rome | M |
| May blush no less to see her wit o'ercome | M |
| Some men their fancies like their faith derive | N |
| And think all ill but that which Rome does give | O |
| The marks of Old and Catholick would find | A |
| To the same chair would truth and fiction bind | A |
| Thou in those beaten paths disdain'st to tread | A |
| And scorn'st to live by robbing of the dead | A |
| Since time does all things change thou think'st not fit | A |
| This latter age should see all new but wit | A |
| Thy fancy like a flame its way does make | P |
| And leave bright tracks for following pens to take | P |
| Sure 't was this noble boldness of the Muse | Q |
| Did thy desire to seek new worlds infuse | Q |
| And ne'er did Heaven so much a voyage bless | R |
| If thou canst plant but there with like success | R |
Abraham Cowley
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about To Sir William Davenant poem by Abraham Cowley
Best Poems of Abraham Cowley