Elegy Ii. On Posthumous Reputation - To A Friend Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEG HIHI FJFJ BKBK BFLF MNMN OPOP CQCA| O grief of griefs that Envy's frantic ire | A |
| Should rob the living virtue of its praise | B |
| O foolish Muses that with zeal aspire | A |
| To deck the cold insensate shrine with bays | B |
| - | |
| When the free spirit quits her humble frame | C |
| To tread the skies with radiant garlands crown'd | D |
| Say will she hear the distant voice of Fame | C |
| Or hearing fancy sweetness in the sound | D |
| - | |
| Perhaps even Genius pours a slighted lay | E |
| Perhaps even Friendship sheds a fruitless tear | F |
| Even Lyttleton but vainly trims the bay | E |
| And fondly graces Hammond's mournful bier | G |
| - | |
| Though weeping virgins haunt his favour'd urn | H |
| Renew their chaplets and repeat their sighs | I |
| Though near his tomb Sab an odours burn | H |
| The loit'ring fragrance will it reach the skies | I |
| - | |
| No should his Delia votive wreaths prepare | F |
| Delia might place the votive wreaths in vain | J |
| Yet the dear hope of Delia's future care | F |
| Once crown'd his pleasures and dispell'd his pain | J |
| - | |
| Yes the fair prospect of surviving praise | B |
| Can every sense of present joys excel | K |
| For this great Hadrian chose laborious days | B |
| Through this expiring bade a gay farewell | K |
| - | |
| Shall then our youths who Fame's bright fabric raise | B |
| To life's precarious date confine their care | F |
| O teach them you to spread the sacred base | L |
| To plan a work through latest ages fair | F |
| - | |
| Is it small transport as with curious eye | M |
| You trace the story of each Attic sage | N |
| To think your blooming praise shall time defy | M |
| Shall waft like odours through the pleasing page | N |
| - | |
| To mark the day when through the bulky tome | O |
| Around your name the varying style refines | P |
| And readers call their lost attention home | O |
| Led by that index where true genius shines | P |
| - | |
| Ah let not Britons doubt their social aim | C |
| Whose ardent bosoms catch this ancient fire | Q |
| Cold interest melts before the vivid flame | C |
| And patriot ardours but with life expire | A |
William Shenstone
(1)
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