Ode Ix. To Curio Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABABCCDEEDFGFGHHIJJI KLMNOOPQQPPRPRSSTPPT UUUUPPVPPVPRPRUUWXXW PTPTAAYZZYPA2PA2PPPP PPUAUAPPB2PPB2UPUPPP A2AAA2C2BC2BD2D2ZAAZ UPUPPPPDDPUPUPVVUPPU PUPUPPRXXNUUUUA2A2DP PZ| Thrice hath the spring beheld thy faded fame | A |
| Since I exulting grasp'd the tuneful shell | B |
| Eager through endless years to sound thy name | A |
| Proud that my memory with thine should dwell | B |
| How hast thou stain'd the splendor of my choice | C |
| Those godlike forms which hover'd round thy voice | C |
| Laws freedom glory whither are they flown | D |
| What can I now of thee to time report | E |
| Save thy fond country made thy impious sport | E |
| Her fortune and her hope the victims of thy own | D |
| There are with eyes unmov'd and reckless heart | F |
| Who saw thee from thy summit fall thus low | G |
| Who deem'd thy arm extended but to dart | F |
| The public vengeance on thy private foe | G |
| But spite of every gloss of envious minds | H |
| The owl ey'd race whom Virtue's lustre blinds | H |
| Who sagely prove that each man hath his price | I |
| I still believ'd thy aim from blemish free | J |
| I yet even yet believe it spite of thee | J |
| And all thy painted pleas to greatness and to vice | I |
| Thou didst not dream of Liberty decay'd | K |
| Nor wish to make her guardian laws more strong | L |
| But the rash many first by thee misled | M |
| Bore thee at length unwillingly along '' | N |
| Rise from your sad abodes ye curst of old | O |
| For faith deserted or for cities sold | O |
| Own here one untry'd unexampled deed | P |
| One mystery of shame from Curio learn | Q |
| To beg the infamy he did not earn | Q |
| And scape in Guilt's disguise from Virtue's offer'd meed | P |
| For saw we not that dangerous power avow'd | P |
| Whom freedom oft hath found her mortal bane | R |
| Whom public Wisdom ever strove to exclude | P |
| And but with blushes suffereth in her train | R |
| Corruption vaunted her bewitching spoils | S |
| O'er court o'er senate spread in pomp her toils | S |
| And call'd herself the states directing soul | T |
| Till Curio like a good magician try'd | P |
| With Eloquence and Reason at his side | P |
| By strength of holier spells the inchantress to control | T |
| Soon with thy country's hope thy fame extends | U |
| The rescued merchant oft thy words resounds | U |
| Thee and thy cause the rural hearth defends | U |
| His bowl to thee the grateful sailor crowns | U |
| The learn'd recluse with awful zeal who read | P |
| Of Grecian heroes Roman patriots dead | P |
| Now with like awe doth living merit scan | V |
| While he whom virtue in his blest retreat | P |
| Bade social ease and public passions meet | P |
| Ascends the civil scene and knows to be a man | V |
| At length in view the glorious end appear'd | P |
| We saw thy spirit through the senate reign | R |
| And Freedom's friends thy instant omen heard | P |
| Of laws for which their fathers bled in vain | R |
| Wak'd in the strife the public Genius rose | U |
| More keen more ardent from his long repose | U |
| Deep through her bounds the city felt his call | W |
| Each crowded haunt was stirr'd beneath his power | X |
| And murmuring challeng'd the deciding hour | X |
| Of that too vast event the hope and dread of all | W |
| O ye good powers who look on human kind | P |
| Instruct the mighty moments as they roll | T |
| And watch the fleeting shapes in Curio's mind | P |
| And steer his passions steady to the goal | T |
| O Alfred father of the English name | A |
| O valiant Edward first in civil fame | A |
| O William height of public virtue pure | Y |
| Bend from your radiant seats a joyful eye | Z |
| Behold the sum of all your labours nigh | Z |
| Your plans of law complete your ends of rule secure | Y |
| 'Twas then O shame O soul from faith estrang'd | P |
| O Albion oft to flattering vows a prey | A2 |
| 'Twas then Thy thought what sudden frenzy chang'd | P |
| What rushing palsy took thy strength away | A2 |
| Is this the man in Freedom's cause approv'd | P |
| The man so great so honour'd so belov'd | P |
| Whom the dead envy'd and the living bless'd | P |
| This patient slave by tinsel bonds allur'd | P |
| This wretched suitor for a boon abjur'd | P |
| Whom those that fear'd him scorn that trusted him detest | P |
| O lost alike to action and repose | U |
| With all that habit of familiar fame | A |
| Sold to the mockery of relentless foes | U |
| And doom'd to exhaust the dregs of life in shame | A |
| To act with burning brow and throbbing heart | P |
| A poor deserter's dull exploded part | P |
| To slight the favour thou canst hope no more | B2 |
| Renounce the giddy crowd the vulgar wind | P |
| Charge thy own lightness on thy country's mind | P |
| And from her voice appeal to each tame foreign shore | B2 |
| But England's sons to purchase thence applause | U |
| Shall ne'er the loyalty of slaves pretend | P |
| By courtly passions try the public cause | U |
| Nor to the forms of rule betray the end | P |
| O race erect by manliest passions mov'd | P |
| The labours which to virtue stand approv'd | P |
| Prompt with a lover's fondness to survey | A2 |
| Yet where Injustice works her wilful claim | A |
| Fierce as the flight of Jove's destroying flame | A |
| Impatient to confront and dreadful to repay | A2 |
| These thy heart owns no longer In their room | C2 |
| See the grave queen of pageants Honour dwell | B |
| Couch'd in thy bosom's deep tempestuous gloom | C2 |
| Like some grim idol in a sorcerer's cell | B |
| Before her rites thy sickening reason flew | D2 |
| Divine Persuasion from thy tongue withdrew | D2 |
| While Laughter mock'd or Pity stole a sigh | Z |
| Can Wit her tender movements rightly frame | A |
| Where the prime function of the soul is lame | A |
| Can Fancy's feeble springs the force of Truth supply | Z |
| But come 'tis time strong Destiny impends | U |
| To shut thee from the joys thou hast betray'd | P |
| With princes fill'd the solemn fane ascends | U |
| By Infamy the mindful demon sway'd | P |
| There vengeful vows for guardian laws effac'd | P |
| From nations fetter'd and from towns laid waste | P |
| For ever through the spacious courts resound | P |
| There long posterity's united groan | D |
| And the sad charge of horrours not their own | D |
| Assail the giant chiefs and press them to the ground | P |
| In sight old Time imperious judge awaits | U |
| Above revenge or fear or pity just | P |
| He urgeth onward to those guilty gates | U |
| The great the sage the happy and august | P |
| And still he asks them of the hidden plan | V |
| Whence every treaty every war began | V |
| Evolves their secrets and their guilt proclaims | U |
| And still his hands despoil them on the road | P |
| Of each vain wreath by lying bards bestow'd | P |
| And crush their trophies huge and rase their sculptur'd names | U |
| Ye mighty shades arise give place attend | P |
| Here his eternal mansion Curio seeks | U |
| Low doth proud Wentworth to the stranger bend | P |
| And his dire welcome hardy Clifford speaks | U |
| He comes whom Fate with surer arts prepar'd | P |
| To accomplish all which we but vainly dar'd | P |
| Whom o'er the stubborn herd she taught to reign | R |
| Who sooth'd with gaudy dreams their raging power | X |
| Even to it's last irrevocable hour | X |
| Then baffled their rude strength and broke them to the chain '' | N |
| But ye whom yet wise Liberty inspires | U |
| Whom for her champions o'er the world she claims | U |
| That household godhead whom of old your sires | U |
| Sought in the woods of Elbe and bore to Thames | U |
| Drive ye this hostile omen far away | A2 |
| Their own fell efforts on her foes repay | A2 |
| Your wealth your arts your fame be her's alone | D |
| Still gird your swords to combat on her side | P |
| Still frame your laws her generous test to abide | P |
| And win to her def | Z |
Mark Akenside
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Ode Ix. To Curio is a poem by Mark Akenside. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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