Analysis of Sweetest Love, I do not go
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
Sweetest love, I do not go,
For weariness of thee,
Nor in hope the world can show
A fitter love for me;
But since that I
Must die at last, 'tis best
To use myself in jest
Thus by feign'd deaths to die.
Yesternight the sun went hence,
And yet is here today;
He hath no desire nor sense,
Nor half so short a way:
Then fear not me,
But believe that I shall make
Speedier journeys, since I take
More wings and spurs than he.
O how feeble is man's power,
That if good fortune fall,
Cannot add another hour,
Nor a lost hour recall!
But come bad chance,
And we join to'it our strength,
And we teach it art and length,
Itself o'er us to'advance.
When thou sigh'st, thou sigh'st not wind,
But sigh'st my soul away;
When thou weep'st, unkindly kind,
My life's blood doth decay.
It cannot be
That thou lov'st me, as thou say'st,
If in thine my life thou waste,
That art the best of me.
Let not thy divining heart
Forethink me any ill;
Destiny may take thy part,
And may thy fears fulfil;
But think that we
Are but turn'd aside to sleep;
They who one another keep
Alive, ne'er parted be.
Scheme | ABABCDDC EFEFBGGB HIHIJKKJ LFLFBXXB MXMIBNNB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1011111 110011 1010111 010111 1111 111111 11101 111111 10111 011101 11101011 111101 1111 1011111 10010111 110111 11101110 111101 10101010 101101 1111 01111101 0111101 01101101 111111111 1111101 111111 111101 1101 11111111 1011111 110111 1110101 11101 1001111 01111 1111 1110111 1110101 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,145 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 163 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 94 Views
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"Sweetest Love, I do not go" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22579/sweetest-love%2C-i-do-not-go>.
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