Analysis of The Scrutiny

Richard Lovelace 1618 – 1657



Why should you swear I am forsworn,
Since thine I vowed to be?
Lady, it is already morn,
And 'twas last night I swore to thee
That fond impossibility.

Have I not loved thee much and long,
A tedious twelve hours' space?
I must all other beauties wrong,
And rob thee of a new embrace,
Could I still dote upon thy face.

Not but all joy in thy brown hair
By others may be found;—
But I must search the black and fair,
Like skilful mineralists that sound
For treasure in unploughed-up ground.

Then if, when I have loved my round,
Thou prov'st the pleasant she,
With spoils of meaner beauties crowned
I laden will return to thee,
Ev'n sated with variety.


Scheme ABABB CDCDD EFEFF FBFBB
Poetic Form Etheree  (30%)
Tetractys  (25%)
Metre 1111111 111111 10110101 01111111 1100100 11111101 01001101 11110101 01110101 11110111 11110111 110111 11110101 11111 1100111 11111111 110101 11110101 11010111 111010100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 640
Words 125
Sentences 7
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 126
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

38 sec read
82

Richard Lovelace

Richard Lovelace was an English poet more…

All Richard Lovelace poems | Richard Lovelace Books

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