Analysis of The Collar
George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)
I struck the board, and cried, "No more!
I will abroad.
What! shall I ever sigh and pine?
My lines and life are free; free as the road,
Loose as the wind, as large as store.
Shall I be still in suit?
Have I no harvest but a thorn
To let me blood, and not restore
What I have lost with cordial fruit?
Sure there was wine
Before my sighs did dry it; there was corn
Before my tears did drown it.
Is the year only lost to me?
Have I no bays to crown it?
No flowers, no garlands gay? all blasted?
All wasted?
Not so, my heart; but there is fruit,
And thou hast hands.
Recover all thy sigh-blown age
On double pleasures; leave thy cold dispute
Of what is fit and not; forsake thy cage,
Thy rope of sands,
Which petty thoughts have made, and made to thee
Good cable, to enforce and draw,
And be thy law,
While thou didst wink and wouldst not see.
Away! take heed;
I will abroad.
Call in thy death's-head there; tie up thy fears;
He that forbears
To suit and serve his need
Deserves his load."
But as I rav'd, and grew more fierce and wild
At every word,
Me thoughts I heard one calling, "Child";
And I replied, "My Lord."
Scheme | aBcdaefaecfghgiiejkekjhllhmBnjmdopoq |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111 1101 11110101 1101111101 11011111 111101 11110101 11110101 11111101 1111 0111111111 0111111 10110111 1111111 110111110 110 11111111 0111 01011111 1101011101 1111010111 1111 1101110111 11010101 0111 11110111 0111 1101 1011111111 111 110111 0111 1111011101 11001 11111101 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,087 |
Words | 225 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 36 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 838 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 221 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 121 Views
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"The Collar" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15389/the-collar>.
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