Analysis of On a Girdle

Edmund Waller 1606 (Coleshill) – 1687



That which her slender waist confin'd,
Shall now my joyful temples bind;
No monarch but would give his crown,
His arms might do what this has done.

It was my heaven's extremest sphere,
The pale which held that lovely deer,
My joy, my grief, my hope, my love,
Did all within this circle move.

A narrow compass, and yet there
Dwelt all that's good, and all that's fair;
Give me but what this ribbon bound,
Take all the rest the sun goes round.


Scheme AAXX BBXX CCDD
Poetic Form Quatrain  (33%)
Metre 11010101 11110101 1111111 11111111 1111011 01111101 11111111 11011101 01010011 11110111 11111101 11010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 438
Words 85
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 113
Words per stanza (avg) 28
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 06, 2023

26 sec read
369

Edmund Waller

Edmund Waller, FRS was an English poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1679. more…

All Edmund Waller poems | Edmund Waller Books

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