A Pastoral Ode. To The Hon. Sir Richard Lyttleton Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABCCB DDEFFE GHIJJI KKLLLL MMNOON PPQLLQ LLRSSR LLTLLT LLUVVU LLWXXW LLYLLY LLLVVL LLVVVV LLEZZE LLVLLV RRWA2A2W VVVSSV LLA2CB2A2 LLC2D2D2C2 VVA2E2E2A2 LLA2F2F2A2 VVG2SSG2 H2H2I2J2J2I2 VVVWWV K2K2IL2M2I LLLN2N2L VVEO2P2E LLLPPL

The morn dispensed a dubious lightA
A sudden mist had stolen from sightA
Each pleasing vale and hillB
When Damon left his humble bowersC
To guard his flocks to fence his flowersC
Or check his wandering rillB
-
Though school'd from Fortune's paths to flyD
The swain beneath each lowering skyD
Would oft his fate bemoanE
That he in sylvan shades forlornF
Must waste his cheerless even and mornF
Nor praised nor loved nor knownE
-
No friend to Fame's obstreperous noiseG
Yet to the whispers of her voiceH
Soft murmuring not a foeI
The pleasures he through choice declinedJ
When gloomy fogs depress'd his mindJ
It grieved him to foregoI
-
Grieved him to lurk the lakes besideK
Where coots in rushy dingles hideK
And moorcocks shun the dayL
While caitiff bitterns undismay'dL
Remark the swain's familiar shadeL
And scorn to quit their preyL
-
But see the radiant sun once moreM
The brightening face of heaven restoreM
And raise the doubtful dawnN
And more to gild his rural sphereO
At once the brightest train appearO
That ever trod the lawnN
-
Amazement chill'd the shepherd's frameP
To think Bridgewater's honour'd nameP
Should grace his rustic cellQ
That she on all whose motions waitL
Distinction titles rank and stateL
Should rove where shepherds dwellQ
-
But true it is the generous mindL
By candour sway'd by taste refinedL
Will nought but vice disdainR
Nor will the breast where fancy glowsS
Deem every flower a weed that blowsS
Amid the desert plainR
-
Beseems it such with honour crown'dL
To deal its lucid beams aroundL
Nor equal meed receiveT
At most such garlands from the fieldL
As cowslips pinks and pansies yieldL
And rural hands can weaveT
-
Yet strive ye shepherds strive to findL
And weave the fairest of the kindL
The prime of all the springU
If haply thus you lovely fairV
May round her temples deign to wearV
The trivial wreaths you bringU
-
O how the peaceful halcyons play'dL
Where'er the conscious lake betray'dL
Athena's placid mienW
How did the sprightlier linnets throngX
Where Paphia's charms required the songX
'Mid hazel copses greenW
-
Lo Dartmouth on those banks reclinedL
While busy Fancy calls to mindL
The glories of his lineY
Methinks my cottage rears its headL
The ruin'd walls of yonder shedL
As through enchantment shineY
-
But who the nymph that guides their wayL
Could ever nymph descend to strayL
From Hagley's famed retreatL
Else by the blooming features fairV
The faultless make the matchless airV
'Twere Cynthia's form completeL
-
So would some tuberose delightL
That struck the pilgrim's wondering sightL
'Mid lonely deserts drearV
All as at eve the sovereign flowerV
Dispenses round its balmy powerV
And crowns the fragrant yearV
-
Ah now no more the shepherd criedL
Must I Ambition's charms derideL
Her subtle force disownE
No more of Fauns or Fairies dreamZ
While Fancy near each crystal streamZ
Shall paint these forms aloneE
-
By low brow'd rock or pathless meadL
I deem'd that splendour ne'er should leadL
My dazzled eyes astrayV
But who alas will dare contendL
If beauty add or merit blendL
Its more illustrious rayV
-
Nor is it long O plaintive swainR
Since Guernsey saw without disdainR
Where hid in woodlands greenW
The partner of his early daysA2
And once the rival of his praiseA2
Had stolen through life unseenW
-
Scarce faded is the vernal flowerV
Since Stamford left his honour'd bowerV
To smile familiar hereV
O form'd by Nature to discloseS
How fair that courtesy which flowsS
From social warmth sincereV
-
Nor yet have many moons decay'dL
Since Pollio sought this lonely shadeL
Admired this rural mazeA2
The noblest breast that Virtue firesC
The Graces love the Muse inspiresB2
Might pant for Pollio's praiseA2
-
Say Thomson here was known to restL
For him you vernal seat I drestL
Ah never to returnC2
In place of wit and melting strainsD2
And social mirth it now remainsD2
To weep beside his urnC2
-
Come then my Lelius come once moreV
And fringe the melancholy shoreV
With roses and with baysA2
While I each wayward Fate accuseE2
That envied his impartial MuseE2
To sing your early praiseA2
-
While Philo to whose favour'd sightL
Antiquity with full delightL
Her inmost wealth displaysA2
Beneath yon ruin's moulder'd wallF2
Shall muse and with his friends recallF2
The pomp of ancient daysA2
-
Here too shall Conway's name appearV
He praised the stream so lovely clearV
That shone the reeds amongG2
Yet clearness could it not discloseS
To match the rhetoric that flowsS
From Conway's polish'd tongueG2
-
Even Pitt whose fervent periods rollH2
Resistless through the kindling soulH2
Of senates councils kingsI2
Though form'd for courts vouchsafed to roveJ2
Inglorious through the shepherd's groveJ2
And ope his bashful springsI2
-
But what can courts discover moreV
Than these rude haunts have seen beforeV
Each fount and shady treeV
Have not these trees and fountains seenW
The pride of courts the winning mienW
Of peerless AylesburyV
-
And Grenville she whose radiant eyesK2
Have mark'd by slow gradation riseK2
The princely piles of StoweI
Yet praised these unembellish'd woodsL2
And smiled to see the babbling floodsM2
Through self worn mazes flowI
-
Say Dartmouth who your banks admiredL
Again beneath your caves retiredL
Shall grace the pensive shadeL
With all the bloom with all the truthN2
With all the sprightliness of youthN2
By cool reflection sway'dL
-
Brave yet humane shall Smith appearV
Ye sailors though his name be dearV
Think him not yours aloneE
Grant him in other spheres to charmO2
The shepherds' breasts though mild are warmP2
And ours are all his ownE
-
O Lyttleton my honour'd guestL
Could I describe thy generous breastL
Thy firm yet polish'd mindL
How public love adorns thy nameP
How Fortune too conspires with FameP
The song should please mankindL

William Shenstone



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