Analysis of The Scourge of Villainy
John Marston 1576 (Coventry) – 1634 (Hampshire)
In serious jest, and jesting seriousness,
I strive to scourge polluting beastliness;
I invocate no Delian deity,
No sacred offspring of Mnemosyne;
I pray in aid of no Castalian Muse,
No nymph, no female angel, to infuse
A sprightly wit to raise my flagging wings,
And teach me tune these harsh discordant strings.
I crave no sirens of our halcyon times,
To grace the accents of my rough-hew'd rhymes;
But grim Reproof, stern Hate of Villainy,
Inspire and guide a Satire's poesy.
Fair Detestation of foul odious sin,
In which our swinish times lie wallowing,
Be thou my conduct and my Genius,
My wits-inciting sweet-breath'd Zephyrus.
O that a Satire's hand had force to pluck
Some floodgate up, to purge the world from muck!
Would God I could turn Alpheus river in,
To purge this Augean oxstall from foul sin!
Well, I will try; awake, Impurity,
And view the veil drawn from thy villainy!
Scheme | AABCDDEEFFCACGAAHHCCBC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01001011000 11110101 1111100 110111 11011111 111110101 0101111101 0111110101 111101101001 1101011111 1111111 0101011 11111001 0110111100 111010110 11010111 110111111 111110111 111111100 11111111 1111010100 01011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 932 |
Words | 156 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 699 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 154 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 54 Views
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