“A Descriptive Ode” BY Charlotte Smith The Department of English Language

1. “A Descriptive Ode” BY Charlotte SmithThe Department of English Language By Noha AL-Bahli Manal Nahadh

2. Charlotte Smith Charlotte Turner Smith (4 May 1749 – 28 October 1806) was an English Romantic poet and novalist. She initiated a revival of the English sonnet, helped establish the conventions of Gothic fiction, and wrote political novels of sensibility. Her father forced her to marry early to Benjamin Smith who was violent with her. Works in poetry: Elegiac Sonnets (1784) The Emigrants (1793) Beachy Head and Other Poems (1807)

3. A Descriptive Ode With shorten'd breath and upturn'd eyes,Sees the rough shore above him rise,Nor dreams that rapine meets him on the strand.And are there then in human formMonsters more savage than the storm,Who from the gasping sufferer tearThe dripping weed?--who dare to reapThe inhuman harvest of the deep,From half-drown'd victims whom the tempests spare?Ah, yes! by avarice once possess'd,No pity moves the rustic breast;Callous he proves--as those who haply waitTill I (a pilgrim weary worn)To my own native land return,With legal toils to drag me to my fate!

4. This lines are taken from Charlotte Smith “A Descriptive Ode” which was written in the Eighteenth Century, Romantic era. • There are many Romantic glimpses in this poem . First, there is a vast sense of emotion ,for example, “Who from the gasping sufferer tear”(6) and, “From half-drown’d victims whom the tempests spare?”(9). Second , there are many scenes of nature, for example, “Sees the rough shore above him rise,/ Nor dreams that rapine meets him on the strand”(2-3). Third , there is a sense of humanism ,for example, “No pity moves the rustic breast;/ Callous he proves-as those who haply wait”(11-12). Fourth, there is symbolism in words such as “Monsters”/ “savage” / “ storm” because it shows human suffering and agony. Quotation:

5. “ A Descriptive Ode” is an interesting poem because of many considerations . First, It is closest to the moral and philosophical ,as we can see that the poem is inspired by virtue ,friendship and humanity . Second, It touches upon a sensitive matter of humans . Third, It addresses social subjects within a story that describes the human’s suffering in life. Fourth, She also uses the genre to explore the different directions an ode can take. The End