SKALD Cowper · 1791 All analyses Translation Atlas Reader’s guide

English · Verse · Blank verse

William Cowper

A surface-form portrait of this Odyssey: corpus scale, recurring wording, line-window variation around Greek forms, and a comparison with other English translations.

Atlas edition year: 1791 · Statistics corpus year: 1791 · All 24 books

115,040words
8,365distinct word forms
0.0727vocabulary variety (distinct ÷ total)
23.22average sentence length
Cowper compared with other English translations Copper bars show this translation; pale bars show the peer median for four surface-form metrics. Cowper Peer median Words 115,040 median 123,889.5 Distinct word forms 8,365 median 6,650 Vocabulary variety 0.0727 median 0.0564 Average sentence length 23.22 median 27.28

Comparison basis: other English translations (12 peers). Each metric has its own scale. Cross-language style-group values are descriptive only.

Repeated wording

The translator’s formulas

The ten repeated phrases of three to six words that rank highest when we multiply how often each phrase appears by its length. Overlapping phrases can describe the same recurring line.

  1. “o er the” 51 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 2.129
  2. “to whom ulysses ever wise replied” 23 occurrences · Od. 5.192 and 7.198
  3. “in wing d accents” 32 occurrences · Od. 2.361 and 4.512
  4. “and in wing d accents” 24 occurrences · Od. 2.361 and 4.512
  5. “to whom ulysses ever wise” 23 occurrences · Od. 5.192 and 7.198
  6. “whom ulysses ever wise replied” 23 occurrences · Od. 5.192 and 7.198
  7. “of heav n” 36 occurrences · Od. 1.1 and 3.229
  8. “to whom ulysses” 36 occurrences · Od. 5.192 and 7.198
  9. “answer d then” 35 occurrences · Od. 1.44 and 3.329
  10. “in wing d” 32 occurrences · Od. 2.361 and 4.512

Line-window evidence

One Greek word, many choices

Each card follows one Greek word into three visibly different passages in this translation. The Greek line containing the word appears first, followed by the nearby passage in the translation. The listed nearby words show recurring context, not direct translations of the Greek word.

δῖος

dios recurring nearby word 3%
  • ἡ μὲν ἄρʼ ὣς ἀγόρευεν, ὁ δʼ ᾤχετο δῖος ὑφορβὸς
    Greek line · Od. 17.589
    message told) The good Eumæus to the suitors went
    Translation passage · Od. 17.589 · nearby words: eumæus, good, message, told
  • γήθησέν τʼ ἄρʼ ἔπειτα πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 13.353
    toil-inured, Transport unutterable, seeing plain Once more
    Translation passage · Od. 13.353 · nearby words: inured, plain, seeing, toil
  • ὣς φάτο, ῥίγησεν δὲ πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 5.171
    expanse terrible, which even ships Pass not, though form'd
    Translation passage · Od. 5.171 · nearby words: expanse, form, pass, ships

φίλος

philos recurring nearby word 5%
  • Αἴολος Ἱπποτάδης, φίλος ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν,
    Greek line · Od. 10.2
    of Hippotas, belov'd By the Immortals, in an isle
    Translation passage · Od. 10.2 · nearby words: belov, hippotas, immortals, isle
  • οὔ θην δὴ τοῦδʼ ἀνδρὸς Ὀδυσσῆος φίλος υἱὸς
    Greek line · Od. 3.352
    needy wretch Cloakless and destitute of fleecy stores
    Translation passage · Od. 3.352 · nearby words: cloakless, destitute, fleecy, needy
  • ἤϊεν ἐς κλισίην· θάμβησε δέ μιν φίλος υἱός,
    Greek line · Od. 16.178
    dimensions ampler to his limbs; Swarthy again his manly
    Translation passage · Od. 16.178 · nearby words: ampler, dimensions, limbs, manly

πεπνυμένος

pepnymenos recurring nearby word 13%
  • τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
    Greek line · Od. 17.77
    discrete, replied. Piræus! wait; for I not yet foresee
    Translation passage · Od. 17.77 · nearby words: discrete, foresee, piræus, wait
  • τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
    Greek line · Od. 3.201
    (for pleas'd thy vig'rous youth I view, And just proportion)
    Translation passage · Od. 3.201 · nearby words: just, pleas, proportion, view
  • ψεῦδος δʼ οὐκ ἐρέει· μάλα γὰρ πεπνυμένος ἐστίν.
    Greek line · Od. 3.328
    could not arrive In a whole year, so vast is the expanse.
    Translation passage · Od. 3.328 · nearby words: arrive, could, expanse, vast

τόξον

toxon recurring nearby word 8%
  • Εὐρύμαχος δʼ ἤδη τόξον μετὰ χερσὶν ἐνώμα,
    Greek line · Od. 21.245
    No pow'r to bend it. Disappointment wrung A groan
    Translation passage · Od. 21.245 · nearby words: bend, disappointment, groan, pow
  • θήσω γὰρ μέγα τόξον Ὀδυσσῆος θείοιο·
    Greek line · Od. 21.74
    who his arrow sends Through twice six rings, he takes
    Translation passage · Od. 21.74 · nearby words: arrow, rings, sends, six
  • γυμνὸν τόξον ἔχων καὶ ἐπὶ νευρῆφιν ὀιστόν,
    Greek line · Od. 11.607
    turbulent; he, gloomy-brow'd as night, With uncased
    Translation passage · Od. 11.607 · nearby words: brow, gloomy, night, turbulent

συβώτης

sybōtēs recurring nearby word 18%
  • αἶψα δέ μιν διέχευαν· ὁ δʼ ὠμοθετεῖτο συβώτης,
    Greek line · Od. 14.427
    They carv'd him quickly, and Eumæus spread Thin slices
    Translation passage · Od. 14.427 · nearby words: carv, eumæus, quickly, slices
  • καλή τε μεγάλη τε, περίδρομος· ἥν ῥα συβώτης
    Greek line · Od. 14.7
    own airy lodge commodious, built Amidst a level
    Translation passage · Od. 14.7 · nearby words: airy, amidst, built, commodious
  • τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε συβώτης, ὄρχαμος ἀνδρῶν·
    Greek line · Od. 15.389
    or small? To whom the master swine-herd in reply.
    Translation passage · Od. 15.389 · nearby words: herd, master, reply, small

Statistical comparison

Against its siblings

Cowper’s blank verse appears in the atlas as an explicit answer to Pope’s rhyme, exchanging couplet form for a closer, deliberately plainer metrical approach. The corpus contains 115040 words and 8365 distinct word forms. Its score-ranked formula list begins with “o er the,” recorded 51 times; this first position does not mean it has the highest raw count. For scale within other English translations, Murray contains 133986 words. The comparison therefore joins publication history to observable corpus structure, keeping the historical portrait vivid while letting the measurements describe only textual scale, lexical distribution, and repeated phrasing. These measures offer a compact view of the textual evidence available here. The emphasis remains on directly observable features of the supplied corpora. That focus keeps the comparison useful without asking the data to support more than it can.

Keep the edition in context.

Open its full atlas record, or read it beside the Greek and the other bundled translations in Skald.

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