Ode On St. Cecilia's Day Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCBCDDEEEFFGHIIJJKL LK AFFIIMMNOPPQQRR ASTUDUDEESVVES WNNPPXYZA2A2FFB2B2ZC CC2D2E2C2F2F2 WFFF2G2G2F2F2F2WWWWH 2CH2CG2G2F2CCF2 WF2F2WWF2F2F2F2I2I2I 2J2K2L2H2F2F2F2F2F2M 2M2F2F2M2 WN2N2F2F2WWEECCCCCG2 I2G2I2| I | A |
| Descend ye Nine descend and sing | B |
| The breathing instruments inspire | C |
| Wake into voice each silent string | B |
| And sweep the sounding lyre | C |
| In a sadly pleasing strain | D |
| Let the warbling lute complain | D |
| Let the loud trumpet sound | E |
| 'Till the roofs all around | E |
| The shrill echo's rebound | E |
| While in more lengthen'd notes and slow | F |
| The deep majestic solemn organs blow | F |
| Hark the numbers soft and clear | G |
| Gently steal upon the ear | H |
| Now louder and yet louder rise | I |
| And fill with spreading sounds the skies | I |
| Exulting in triumph now swell the bold notes | J |
| In broken air trembling the wild music floats | J |
| 'Till by degrees remote and small | K |
| The strains decay | L |
| And melt away | L |
| In a dying dying fall | K |
| - | |
| II | A |
| By Music minds an equal temper know | F |
| Nor swell too high nor sink too low | F |
| If in the breast tumultuous joys arise | I |
| Music her soft assuasive voice applies | I |
| Or when the soul is press'd with cares | M |
| Exalts her in enlivening airs | M |
| Warriors she fires with animated sounds | N |
| Pours balm into the bleeding lover's wounds | O |
| Melancholy lifts her head | P |
| Morpheus rouzes from his bed | P |
| Sloth unfolds her arms and wakes | Q |
| List'ning Envy drops her snakes | Q |
| Intestine war no more our Passions wage | R |
| And giddy Factions hear away their rage | R |
| - | |
| III | A |
| But when our Country's cause provokes to Arms | S |
| How martial music ev'ry bosom warms | T |
| So when the first bold vessel dar'd the seas | U |
| High on the stern the Thracian rais'd his strain | D |
| While Argo saw her kindred trees | U |
| Descend from Pelion to the main | D |
| Transported demi gods stood round | E |
| And men grew heroes at the sound | E |
| Enflam'd with glory's charms | S |
| Each chief his sev'nfold shield display'd | V |
| And half unsheath'd the shining blade | V |
| And seas and rocks and skies rebound | E |
| To arms to arms to arms | S |
| - | |
| IV | W |
| But when thro' all th'infernal bounds | N |
| Which flaming Phlegeton surrounds | N |
| Love strong as Death the Poet led | P |
| To the pale nations of the dead | P |
| What sounds were heard | X |
| What scenes appear'd | Y |
| O'er all the dreary coasts | Z |
| Dreadful gleams | A2 |
| Dismal screams | A2 |
| Fires that glow | F |
| Shrieks of woe | F |
| Sullen moans | B2 |
| Hollow groans | B2 |
| And cries of tortur'd ghosts | Z |
| But hark he strikes the golden lyre | C |
| And see the tortur'd ghosts respire | C |
| See shady forms advance | C2 |
| Thy stone O Sysiphus stands still | D2 |
| Ixion rests upon his wheel | E2 |
| And the pale spectres dance | C2 |
| The Furies sink upon their iron beds | F2 |
| And snakes uncurl'd hang list'ning round their heads | F2 |
| - | |
| V | W |
| By the streams that ever flow | F |
| By the fragrant winds that blow | F |
| O'er th' Elysian flow'rs | F2 |
| By those happy souls who dwell | G2 |
| In yellow meads of Asphodel | G2 |
| Or Amaranthine bow'rs | F2 |
| By the hero's armed shades | F2 |
| Glitt'ring thro' the gloomy glades | F2 |
| By the youths that dy'd for love | W |
| Wand'ring in the myrtle grove | W |
| Restore restore Eurydice to life | W |
| Oh take the husband or return the wife | W |
| He sung and hell consented | H2 |
| To hear the Poet's pray'r | C |
| Stern Proserpine relented | H2 |
| And gave him back the fair | C |
| Thus song could prevail | G2 |
| O'er death and o'er hell | G2 |
| A conquest how hard and how glorious | F2 |
| Tho' fate had fast bound her | C |
| With Styx nine times round her | C |
| Yet music and love were victorious | F2 |
| - | |
| VI | W |
| But soon too soon the lover turns his eyes | F2 |
| Again she falls again she dies she dies | F2 |
| How wilt thou now the fatal sisters move | W |
| No crime was thine if 'tis no crime to love | W |
| Now under hanging mountains | F2 |
| Beside the falls of fountains | F2 |
| Or where Hebrus wanders | F2 |
| Rolling in Maeanders | F2 |
| All alone | I2 |
| Unheard unknown | I2 |
| He makes his moan | I2 |
| And calls her ghost | J2 |
| For ever ever ever lost | K2 |
| Now with Furies surrounded | L2 |
| Despairing confounded | H2 |
| He trembles he glows | F2 |
| Amidst Rhodope's snows | F2 |
| See wild as the winds o'er the desart he flies | F2 |
| Hark Haemus resounds with the Bacchanals cries | F2 |
| Ah see he dies | F2 |
| Yet ev'n in death Eurydice he sung | M2 |
| Eurydice still trembled on his tongue | M2 |
| Eurydice the woods | F2 |
| Eurydice the floods | F2 |
| Eurydice the rocks and hollow mountains rung | M2 |
| - | |
| VII | W |
| Music the fiercest grief can charm | N2 |
| And fate's severest rage disarm | N2 |
| Music can soften pain to ease | F2 |
| And make despair and madness please | F2 |
| Our joys below it can improve | W |
| And antedate the bliss above | W |
| This the divine Cecilia found | E |
| And to her Maker's praise confin'd the sound | E |
| When the full organ joins the tuneful quire | C |
| Th'immortal pow'rs incline their ear | C |
| Borne on the swelling notes our souls aspire | C |
| While solemn airs improve the sacred fire | C |
| And Angels lean from heav'n to hear | C |
| Of Orpheus now no more let Poets tell | G2 |
| To bright Cecilia greater pow'r is giv'n | I2 |
| His numbers rais'd a shade from hell | G2 |
| Hers lift the soul to heav'n | I2 |
Alexander Pope
(1)
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About Ode On St. Cecilia's Day
Ode On St. Cecilia's Day is a poem by Alexander Pope. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
