An Epistle To Robert Lloyd, Esq. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDCDEEFFCCGGHHII CCCCJKLLMMCCDDCCCCNO PPQQRRSTUNFFFFCCCCFF PCCCCCFFVCFFFFWWCCXX YYCCCCCCJJ

'Tis not that I design to robA
Thee of thy birthright gentle BobA
For thou art born sole heir and singleB
Of dear Mat Prior's easy jingleB
Nor that I mean while thus I knitC
My threadbare sentiments togetherD
To show my genius or my witC
When God and you know I have neitherD
Or such as might be better shownE
By letting poetry aloneE
'Tis not with either of these viewsF
That I presume to address the MuseF
But to divert a fierce bandittiC
Sworn foes to everything that's wittyC
That with a black infernal trainG
Make cruel inroads in my brainG
And daily threaten to drive thenceH
My little garrison of senseH
The fierce banditti which I meanI
Are gloomy thoughts led on by spleenI
Then there's another reason yetC
Which is that I may fairly quitC
The debt which justly became dueC
The moment when I heard from youC
And you might grumble crony mineJ
If paid in any other coinK
Since twenty sheets of lead God knowsL
I would say twenty sheets of proseL
Can ne'er be deemed worth half so muchM
As one of gold and yours was suchM
Thus the preliminaries settledC
I fairly find myself pitch kettledC
And cannot see though few see betterD
How I shall hammer out a letterD
First for a thought since all agreeC
A thought I have it let me seeC
'Tis gone again plague on't I thoughtC
I had it but I have it notC
Dame Gurton thus and Hodge her sonN
That useful thing her needle goneO
Rake well the cinders sweep the floorP
And sift the dust behind the doorP
While eager Hodge beholds the prizeQ
In old grimalkin's glaring eyesQ
And Gammar finds it on her kneesR
In every shining straw she seesR
This simile were apt enoughS
But I've another critic proofT
The virtuoso thus at noonU
Broiling beneath a July sunN
The gilded butterfly pursuesF
O'er hedge and ditch through gaps and mewsF
And after many a vain essayF
To captivate the tempting preyF
Gives him at length the lucky patC
And has him safe beneath his hatC
Then lifts it gently from the groundC
But ah 'tis lost as soon as foundC
Culprit his liberty regainsF
Flits out of sight and mocks his painsF
The sense was dark 'twas thereforeP
With simile to illustrate itC
But as too much obscures the sightC
As often as too little lightC
We have our similes cut shortC
For matters of more grave importC
That Matthew's numbers run with easeF
Each man of common sense agreesF
All men of common sense allowV
That Robert's lines are easy tooC
Where then the preference shall we placeF
Or how do justice in this caseF
Matthew says Fame with endless painsF
Smoothed and refined the meanest strainsF
Nor suffered one ill chosen rhymeW
To escape him at the idlest timeW
And thus o'er all a lustre castC
That while the language lives shall lastC
An't please your ladyship quoth IX
For 'tis my business to replyX
Sure so much labour so much toilY
Bespeak at least a stubborn soilY
Theirs be the laurel wreath decreedC
Who both write well and write full speedC
Who throw their Helicon aboutC
As freely as a conduit spoutC
Friend Robert thus like chien scavantC
Lets fall a poem en passantC
Nor needs his genuine ore refineJ
'Tis ready polished from the mineJ

William Cowper



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