Analysis of When, Dearest, I But Think On Thee

Owen Felltham 1602 – 1668



When, dearest, I but think on thee,
   Methinks all things that lovely be
   Are present, and my soul delighted:
     For beauties that from worth arise
     Are like the grace of deities,
   Still present with us, though unsighted.

Thus while I sit and sigh the day
   With all his spreading lights away,
   Till night's black wings do overtake me:
    Thinking on thee, thy beauties then,
    As sudden lights do sleeping men,
  So they by their bright rays awake me.

Thus absence dies, and dying proves
  No absence can consist with loves
  That do partake of fair perfection:
    Since in the darkest night they may
    By their quick motion find a way
  To see each other by reflection.

The waving sea can with such flood
  Bathe some high palace that hath stood
  Far from the main up in the river:
    Oh think not then but love can do
    As much, for that's an ocean too,
  That flows not every day, but ever.


Scheme AABXXB CCADDA XXECCE BXFGGF
Poetic Form
Metre 11011111 1111101 110011010 11011101 11011100 1101111 11110101 11110101 11111101 10111101 11011101 111111011 11010101 11010111 110111010 10010111 11110101 111101010 01011111 11110111 110110010 11111111 11111101 1111001110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 913
Words 162
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 168
Words per stanza (avg) 40
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
108

Owen Felltham

Owen Feltham was an English writer, author of a book entitled Resolves, Divine, Moral, and Political, containing 146 short essays. more…

All Owen Felltham poems | Owen Felltham Books

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