Analysis of To the Painter Preparing to Draw M.M.H.
James Shirley 1596 (London) – 1666 (London)
Be not too forward, painter; 'tis
More for thy fame, and art, to miss
All other faces, than come near
The Lady, that expecteth here.
Be wise, and think it less disgrace
To draw an angel, than her face;
For in such forms, who is so wise
To tell thee where thy error lies?
But since all beauty (that is known)
Is in her virgin sweetness one,
How can it be, that painting her
But every look should make thee err?
But thou art resolute I see;
Yet let my fancy walk with thee:
Compose a ground more dark and sad,
Than that the early Chaos had,
And show, to the whole sex's shame,
Beauty was darkness till she came.
Then paint her eyes, whose active light
Shall make the former shadows bright,
And with their every beam supply
New day, to draw her picture by.
Now, if thou wilt complete the face,
A wonder paint in every place.
Beneath these, for her fair neck's sake,
White as the Paphian Turtles, make
A pillar, whose smooth base doth show
It self lost in a mount of snow;
Her breast, the house of chaste desire,
Cold, but increasing others' fire.
But how I lose (instructing thee)
Thy pencil, and my poetry!
For when thou hast expressed all art,
As high as truth, in every part,
She can resemble at the best,
One, in her beauty's silence dressed,
Where thou, like a dull looker-on,
Art lost, and all thy art undone;
For if she speak, new wonders rise
From her teeth, chin, lip, and eyes;
So far above that excellent
Did take thee first, thou should repent
To have begun, and lose i'th'end
Thy eyes with wonder how to mend.
At such a loss, here's all thy choice,
Leave off, or paint her with a voice.
Scheme | ABCDEEFFGHIJKKLLMMNNOOEEPPQQIIKKRRSSTHFFUVWWXX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 11110111 11010111 010111 11011101 11110101 10111111 11111101 11110111 10010101 11111100 110011111 1111011 11110111 01011101 11010101 0110111 10110111 11011101 1101011 011100101 11110101 11110101 010101001 01110111 1101101 01011111 11100111 010111010 110101010 11110101 11001100 11110111 111101001 11010101 1001101 11101101 11011101 11111101 1011101 11011100 11111101 1101011111 11110111 11011111 11110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,604 |
Words | 306 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 46 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,218 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 304 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 11, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 88 Views
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"To the Painter Preparing to Draw M.M.H." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20505/to-the-painter-preparing-to-draw-m.m.h.>.
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