Analysis of Astrophel's Song Of Phyllida And Corydon
Nicholas Breton 1558 (England) – 1626
Fair in a morn (O fairest morn!),
Was never morn so fair,
There shone a sun, though not the sun
That shineth in the air.
For the earth, and from the earth,
(Was never such a creature!)
Did come this face (was never face
That carried such a feature).
Upon a hill (O blessèd hill!
Was never hill so blessèd),
There stood a man (was never man
For woman so distressed):
This man beheld a heavenly view,
Which did such virtue give
As clears the blind, and helps the lame,
And makes the dead man live.
This man had hap (O happy man!
More happy none than he);
For he had hap to see the hap
That none had hap to see.
This silly swain (and silly swains
Are men of meanest grace):
Had yet the grace (O gracious gift!)
To hap on such a face.
He pity cried, and pity came
And pitied so his pain,
As dying would not let him die
But gave him life again.
For joy whereof he made such mirth
As all the woods did ring;
And Pan with all his swains came forth
To hear the shepherd sing;
But such a song sung never was,
Nor shall be sung again,
Of Phyllida the shepherds' queen,
And Corydon the swain.
Fair Phyllis is the shepherds' queen,
(Was never such a queen as she,)
And Corydon her only swain
(Was never such a swain as he):
Fair Phyllis hath the fairest face
That ever eye did yet behold,
And Corydon the constant'st faith
That ever yet kept flock in fold;
Sweet Phyllis is the sweetest sweet
That ever yet the earth did yield,
And Corydon the kindest swain
That ever yet kept lambs in field.
Sweet Philomel is Phyllis' bird,
Though Corydon be he that caught her,
And Corydon doth hear her sing,
Though Phyllida be she that taught her:
Poor Corydon doth keep the fields
Though Phyllida be she that owes them,
And Phyllida doth walk the meads,
Though Corydon be he that mows them:
The little lambs are Phyllis' love,
Though Corydon is he that feeds them,
The gardens fair are Phyllis' ground,
Though Corydon is he that weeds them.
Since then that Phyllis only is
The only shepherd's only queen;
And Corydon the only swain
That only hath her shepherd been,--
Though Phyllis keep her bower of state,
Shall Corydon consume away?
No, shepherd, no, work out the week,
And Sunday shall be holiday.
Scheme | Text too long |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10011101 110111 11011101 11001 1010101 1101010 11111101 1101010 01011111 1101111 11011101 110101 11101001 111101 11010101 010111 11111101 110111 11111101 111111 11010101 111101 11011101 111101 11010101 01111 11011111 111101 1111111 110111 01111111 110101 11011101 111101 110101 0101 11010101 11010111 010101 11010111 11010101 11011101 0101011 11011101 11010101 11010111 010101 11011101 111101 1111110 011101 1111110 111101 1111111 011101 1111111 01011101 1111111 01011101 1111111 11110101 01010101 010101 11010101 110101011 110101 11011101 011110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,121 |
Words | 419 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 68 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,678 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 412 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 90 Views
Citation
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"Astrophel's Song Of Phyllida And Corydon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28400/astrophel%27s-song-of-phyllida-and-corydon>.
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