Analysis of Virelay

Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 (London) – 1400 (London)



Alone walking
In thought plaining,
And sore sighing;
All desolate,
Me rememb'ring
Of my living;
My death wishing
Both early and late.

Infortunate
Is so my fate,
That, wot ye what?
Out of measure
My life I hate;
Thus desperate,
In such poor estate,
Do I endure.

Of other cure
Am I not sure;
Thus to endure
Is hard, certain;
Such is my ure,
I you ensure;
What creature
May have more pain?

My truth so plain
Is taken in vain,
And great disdain
In remembrance;
Yet I full fain
Would me complain,
Me to abstain
From this penance.

But, in substance,
None alleggeance
Of my grievance
Can I not find;
Right so my chance,
With displeasance,
Doth me advance;
And thus an end.


Scheme AAABAAAC BCBDCXCE EEEXXEDF FFFGFFFG GGGXHGHX
Poetic Form Tetractys  (53%)
Etheree  (25%)
Metre 0110 011 0110 1100 11 1110 1110 11001 1 1111 1111 1110 1111 110 01101 1101 1101 1111 1101 1110 1111 1101 110 1111 1111 11001 0101 0010 1111 1101 1101 1110 1010 11 1110 1111 1111 11 1101 0111
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 634
Words 126
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 13
Words per line (avg) 3
Letters per stanza (avg) 102
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
142

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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