Analysis of A Guiltlesse Lady Imprisoned: After Penanced. Song
Richard Lovelace 1618 – 1657
I.
Heark, faire one, how what e're here is
Doth laugh and sing at thy distresse;
Not out of hate to thy reliefe,
But joy t' enjoy thee, though in griefe.
II.
See! that which chaynes you, you chaine here;
The prison is thy prisoner;
How much thy jaylor's keeper art!
He bindes your hands, but you his heart.
III.
The gyves to rase so smooth a skin,
Are so unto themselves within;
But, blest to kisse so fayre an arme,
Haste to be happy with that harme;
IV.
And play about thy wanton wrist,
As if in them thou so wert drest;
But if too rough, too hard they presse,
Oh, they but closely, closely kisse.
V.
And as thy bare feet blesse the way,
The people doe not mock, but pray,
And call thee, as amas'd they run
Instead of prostitute, a nun.
VI.
The merry torch burnes with desire
To kindle the eternall fire,
And lightly daunces in thine eyes
To tunes of epithalamies.
VII.
The sheet's ty'd ever to thy wast,
How thankfull to be so imbrac't!
And see! thy very very bonds
Are bound to thee, to binde such hands.
Scheme | ABBCC AXDEE AFFGG CXEXB CHHII ADDXB CEEXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 1 111111111 1101111 1111111 111011101 1 11111111 01011100 1111101 11111111 1 01111101 11100101 11111111 11110111 1 01011101 11011111 11111111 11110101 1 01111101 01011111 0111111 0111001 1 010111010 1100110 0101011 1111 1 01110111 111111 01110101 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,130 |
Words | 197 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 114 Views
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"A Guiltlesse Lady Imprisoned: After Penanced. Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30116/a-guiltlesse-lady-imprisoned%3A-after-penanced.-song>.
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