Analysis of A Rondel of Merciless Beauty - The Original

Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 (London) – 1400 (London)



I. 1.
Youre two eyn will sle me sodenly
I may the beaute of them not sustene,
So wendeth it thorowout my herte kene.

2.
And but your words will helen hastely
My hertis wound, while that it is grene,
Youre two eyn will sle me sodenly.

3.
Upon my trouth I sey yow feithfully,
That ye ben of my liffe and deth the quene;
For with my deth the trouth shal be sene.
Youre two eyn will sle me sodenly
I may the beaute of them not sustene,
So wendeth it thorowout my herte kene.

II. 1.
So hath youre beauty fro your herte chased
Pitee, that me n'availeth not to pleyn:
For daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.

2.
Giltless my deth thus have ye purchased;
I sey yow soth, me nedeth not to fayn:
So hath your beaute fro your herte chased.

3.
Alas, that nature hath in yow compassed
So grete beaute, that no man may atteyn
To mercy, though he sterve for the peyn.
Youre two eyn will sle me sodenly
I may the beaute of them not sustene,
So wendeth it thorowout my herte kene.

III. 1.
Syn I fro love escaped am so fat,
I nere thinke to ben in his prison lene;
Syn I am fre, I counte hym not a bene.

2.
He may answere and sey this and that,
I do no fors, I speak ryght as I mene;
Syn I fro love escaped am so fat.

3.
Love hath my name i-strike out of his sclat,
And he is strike out of my bokes clene:
For ever mo 'ther' is non other mene,
Syn I fro love escaped am so fat.


Scheme aBCC DbcB DbccBCC aecc Dxce DeccBCC aFcc DfcF DeccF
Poetic Form
Metre 1 1111111 11011111 1111111 1 01111101 11111111 1111111 1 01111111 1111110101 111101111 1111111 11011111 1111111 1 111101111 1111111 111110011 1 11111110 111111111 11111111 1 011101011 11111111 110111101 1111111 11011111 1111111 1 111101111 1111101101 11111111010 1 11101101 1111111111 111101111 1 1111111111 011111111 1101111101 111101111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,334
Words 285
Sentences 24
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 7, 4, 4, 7, 4, 4, 5
Lines Amount 43
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 114
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

1:25 min read
149

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. more…

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