The speaker of the poem is a poet who exalts the simplicity of classic art. It is a 1st person speaker. The addressee of the poem is Simplicity. The poet uses apostrophes: “O thou by Nature taught”, or “O chaste unboastful nymph, to thee I call!”

The poem is a kind of manifesto. Its subject is poetry and it is dedicated to Greek and pastoral poetry. The most important elements in Greek literature were harmony, nature, simplicity, beauty and truth, which were considered as equal and necessary important. They believed that something, which is harmonious and simple, is beautiful. The harmony was represented by numbers. The ode begins with the apostrophe to simplicity:

“O thou by Nature taught

To breathe her genuine thought,

In numbers warmly pure and sweetly strong;”

The Simplicity inspires the poet, he calls her a sister of Truth, once more corresponding to classical ideals. Even the flowers, which are beautiful, ask Simplicity to range their colors.

Since then Simplicity left her “shrine” and is only in Love.

the second stanza the addressee is specified by means of metaphor: “a decent maid,/ In Attic robe arrayed,” which refers to simplicity as realized in Attic (Greek) literature. She despised the abundance in art, but is modest and decent. The Simplicity is called a nymph, it was a popular motif in classic literature. In Greek mythology a nymph was a guardian spirit of nature. The poet stresses the connection between Simplicity and Nature.

The later poetry is not as perfect as the classic art. Despite the taste with which it was written and the enormous talent it is lacking something until it is inspired by the Simplicity. The “taste” and “genius bless” may give aesthetic pleasure, may be attractive to the eye but only Simplicity can lift the soul.

May court, may charm, our eye;

To one distinguished throne,

Some topics in this essay:
Passions Love, William Collins’s, Horace Virgil, Simplicity Nature, Nature” Nature, Attic Greek, , “servile scene”, greek literature, warmly pure sweetly, retreat” means athens, “o thou nature, pure sweetly strong”, means metaphor, simplicity poet, sweetly strong”, sweep” “warbled, “warbled wanderings”, pure sweetly, thou nature, vale” meaning simplicity, warmly pure,