Analysis of The Indifferent

Francis Beaumont 1584 (Grace-Dieu) – 1616 (London)



Never more will I protest,
To love a woman but in jest:
For as they cannot be true,
So, to give each man his due,
  When the wooing fit is past
  Their affection cannot last.

Therefore, if I chance to meet
With a mistress fair and sweet,
She my service shall obtain,
Loving her for love again:
  Thus much liberty I crave,
  Not to be a constant slave.

But when we have tried each other,
If she better like another,
Let her quickly change for me,
Then to change am I as free.
  He or she that loves too long
  Sell their freedom for a song.


Scheme AABBCC DDXXEE FFGGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 101111 11010101 1111011 1111111 1010111 1010101 111111 1010101 1110101 1001101 1110011 1110101 11111110 11101010 1010111 1111111 1111111 1110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 531
Words 108
Sentences 5
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 135
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
83

Francis Beaumont

Francis Beaumont, judge, was the eldest son of John Beaumont, sometime master of the rolls, by his second wife Elizabeth, daughter of William Hastings. more…

All Francis Beaumont poems | Francis Beaumont Books

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