Analysis of To A Vain Lady
George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)
Ah! heedless girl! why thus disclose
What ne'er was meant for other ears:
Why thus destroy thine own repose
And dig the source of future tears?
Oh, thou wilt weep, imprudent maid,
While lurking envious foes will smile,
For all the follies thou hast said
Of those who spoke but to beguile.
Vain girl! thy ling'ring woes are nigh,
If thou believ'st what striplings say:
Oh, from the deep temptation fly,
Nor fall the specious spoiler's prey.
Dost thou repeat, in childish boast,
The words man utters to deceive?
Thy peace, thy hope, thy all is lost,
If thou canst venture to believe.
While now amongst thy female peers
Thou tell'st again the soothing tale,
Canst thou not mark the rising sneers
Duplicity in vain would veil?
These tales in secret silence hush,
Nor make thyself the public gaze:
What modest maid without a blush
Recounts a flattering coxcomb's praise?
Will not the laughing boy despise
Her who relates each fond conceit -
Who, thinking Heaven is in her eyes,
Yet cannot see the slight deceit?
For she who takes a soft delight
These amorous nothings in revealing,
Must credit all we say or write,
While vanity prevents concealing.
Cease, if you prize your beauty's reign!
No jealousy bids me reprove:
One, who is thus from nature vain,
I pity, but I cannot love.
Scheme | ABAX XCXC DEDE XFXF BGBG HIHI JKJK LMLM NDNX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (89%) |
Metre | 1111101 11111101 11011101 01011101 11110101 110100111 11010111 11111101 11111111 111111 11010101 1101011 11010101 01110101 11111111 11110101 1101111 111010101 11110101 01000111 11010101 1110101 11010101 1010011 11010101 01011101 110101001 11010101 11110101 1100100010 11011111 110001010 1111111 1100111 11111101 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,266 |
Words | 229 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 112 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 45 Views
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"To A Vain Lady" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15260/to-a-vain-lady>.
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