Analysis of Acis and Galatea

John Gay 1685 – 1732



Air.
Love in her eyes sits playing,
And sheds delicious death;
Love on her lips is straying,
And warbling in her breath;
Love on her breast sits panting,
And swells with soft desire;
Nor grace nor charm is wanting
To set the heart on fire.

Air.
O ruddier than the cherry!
O sweeter than the berry!
O Nymph more bright
Than moonshine night,
Like kidlings blithe and merry!

Ripe as the melting cluster!
No lily has such lustre;
Yet hard to tame
As raging flame,
And fierce as storms that bluster.


Scheme Abcbcbdbd Aeeffe ddggd
Poetic Form Tetractys  (30%)
Etheree  (30%)
Metre 1 1001110 010101 1101110 0100001 1101110 0111010 1111110 1101110 1 111010 1101010 1111 111 111010 1101010 1101110 1111 1101 0111110
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 484
Words 93
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 9, 6, 5
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 19
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 129
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

27 sec read
90

John Gay

John Gay, a cousin of the poet John Gay, was an English philosopher, biblical scholar and Church of England clergyman. more…

All John Gay poems | John Gay Books

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    Which of these famous poems is written in villanelle form?
    A Funeral Blues
    B Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
    C The Owl And The Pussycat
    D Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night