XXXIII. The Regularised Pindaric Ode

Analysis of Gray's Bard (the second and third divisions coincide to the minutest degree):

I. i.

1."Ruin seize thee, ruthless King! 2.Confusion on thy banners wait; 3.Tho' fanned by Conquest's crimson wing 4.They mock the air with idle state. 5.Helm, nor hauberk's twisted mail, 6.Nor e'en thy virtues, Tyrant, shall avail 7.To save thy secret soul from nightly fears, 8.From Cambria's curse, from Cambria's tears!" 9.—Such were the sounds that o'er the crested pride 10.Of the first Edward scatter'd wild dismay, 11.As down the steep of Snowdon's shaggy side 12.He wound with toilsome march his long array:— 13.Stout Glo'ster stood aghast in speechless trance; 14."To arms!" cried Mortimer, and couch'd his quivering lance.

I. i. (Strophe)

1. Troch. dim. cat. ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄.
2. Iamb. dim. acat. ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄.
3. ditto
4. ditto
5 as 1.
6 and 7. Heroics nearly pure, ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄.
8 as 2 to 4.
9 to 13. Heroics
14. Alexandrine ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄. "Quiv'ring," probably.

I. ii.

1. On a rock, whose haughty brow 2. Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, 3. Robed in the sable garb of woe 4. With haggard eyes the Poet stood 5. (Loose his beard and hoary hair 6. Stream'd like a meteor to the troubled air), 7. And with a master's hand and prophet's fire 8. Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre: 9. "Hark, how each giant-oak and desert-cave 10. Sighs to the torrent's awful voice beneath! 11. O'er thee, oh King! their hundred arms they wave, 12. Revenge on thee in hoarser murmurs breathe; 13. Vocal no more, since Cambria's fatal day, 14. To high-born Hoel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay.

I. ii. (Antistrophe)

Identical.

I. iii.

1. "Cold is Cadwallo's tongue, 2. That hush'd the stormy main: 3. Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed: 4. Mountains, ye mourn in vain 5. Modred, whose magic song 6. Made hugh Plinlimmon bow his cloud-topt head. 7. On dreary Arvon's shore they lie 8. Smear'd with gore and ghastly pale: 9. Far, far aloof the affrighted ravens sail; 10. The famish'd eagle screams, and passes by. 11. Dear lost companions of my tuneful art, 12. Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes, 13.Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart, 14. Ye died amidst your dying country's cries— 15. No more I weep; They do not sleep; 16. On yonder cliffs, a griesly band, 17. I see them sit; They linger yet, 18. Avengers of their native land: 19. With me in dreadful harmony they join, 20. And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line.

I. iii. (Epode)

1. Iamb. dim. brachycat. ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̆ ̄.
2. ditto
3. Heroic.
4, 5, as 1, 2, with trochee substituted in first place.
6 as 3.
7. Iamb. dim. acat.
8. Troch. dim. cat.
9 to 14. Heroics: the last 4 in quatrain.
15 to 18. Iamb. dims. arranged in stanza quatrain; internal rhymes only in lines 15 and 17.
19. Heroic.
20. Alexandrine.

Rhyme scheme of Strophe and Antistrophe.	Rhyme scheme of Epode.
a	a
b	b
a	c
b	b
c	a
c	c
d	d
d	e
e	e
f	d
e	f
f	g
g	f
g	g
	o [45]
	h
	o[45]
	h
	i
	i