Analysis of Complaint Of The Absence Of Her Lover Being Upon The Sea
Henry Howard 1517 – 1547
O HAPPY dames! that may embrace
The fruit of your delight,
Help to bewail the woful case
And eke the heavy plight
Of me, that wonted to rejoice
The fortune of my pleasant choice:
Good ladies, help to fill my mourning voice.
In ship, freight with rememberance
Of thoughts and pleasures past,
He sails that hath in governance
My life while it will last:
With scalding sighs, for lack of gale,
Furthering his hope, that is his sail,
Toward me, the sweet port of his avail.
Alas! how oft in dreams I see
Those eyes that were my food;
Which sometime so delighted me,
That yet they do me good:
Wherewith I wake with his return
Whose absent flame did make me burn:
But when I find the lack, Lord! how I mourn!
When other lovers in arms across
Rejoice their chief delight,
Drownàed in tears, to mourn my loss
I stand the bitter night
In my window where I may see
Before the winds how the clouds flee:
Lo! what a mariner love hath made me!
And in green waves when the salt flood
Doth rise by rage of wind,
A thousand fancies in that mood
Assail my restless mind.
Alas! now drencheth my sweet foe,
That with the spoil of my heart did go,
And left me; but alas! why did he so?
And when the seas wax calm again
To chase fro me annoy,
My doubtful hope doth cause me plain;
So dread cuts off my joy.
Thus is my wealth mingled with woe
And of each thought a doubt doth grow;
—Now he comes! Will he come? Alas! no, no.
Scheme | ABABCCC ADXDEEE FGFXHHX IBIBFFF XJGJKKK XLXLKKK |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 011101 111011 010101 1111101 01011101 1101111101 01111 110101 11110100 111111 11011111 100111111 0110111101 01110111 111011 1110101 111111 1111101 11011111 1111011111 110100101 011101 11011111 110101 01101111 01011011 1101001111 00111011 111111 01010011 011101 0111111 110111111 0111011111 01011101 111101 11011111 111111 11111011 01110111 1111110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,372 |
Words | 276 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 180 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 135 Views
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"Complaint Of The Absence Of Her Lover Being Upon The Sea" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17390/complaint-of-the-absence-of-her-lover-being-upon-the-sea>.
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