Analysis of Written at an Inn at Henley

William Shenstone 1714 (Halesowen) – 1763 (Halesowen)



To thee, fair Freedom! I retire,
From flattery, cards, and dice, and din;
Nor art thou found in mansions higher
Than the low cot, or humble inn.

'Tis here with boundless power I reign,
And every health which I begin,
Converts dull port to bright champagne;
Such Freedom crowns it, at an inn.

I fly from pomp, I fly from plate,
I fly from Falsehood's specious grin;
Freedom I love, and form I hate,
And choose my lodgings, at an inn.

Here, waiter! take my sordid ore,
Which lackeys else might hope to win;
It buys what courts have not in store,
It buys me Freedom, at an inn.

Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round,
Where'er his stages may have been,
May sigh to think he still has found
The warmest welcome -- at an inn.


Scheme XAXA BABA CACA DADA EAEA
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11110101 110010101 111101010 10111101 111101011 010011101 10111101 11011111 11111111 1111101 10110111 01110111 11011101 11011111 11111101 11110111 1110111 10110111 11111111 01010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 729
Words 138
Sentences 8
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 109
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
56

William Shenstone

William Shenstone was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes. more…

All William Shenstone poems | William Shenstone Books

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