Analysis of Prologue to the Princess of Cleves
John Dryden 1631 (Aldwincle) – 1631 (London)
Ladies! (I hope there's none behind to hear)
I long to whisper something in your ear:
A secret, which does much my mind perplex,—
There's treason in the play against our sex.
A man that's false to love, that vows and cheats,
And kisses every living thing he meets;
A rogue in mode,—I dare not speak too broad,—
One that—does something to the very bawd.
Out on him, traitor, for a filthy beast!
Nay, and he's like the pack of all the rest:
None of them stick at mark; they all deceive.
Some Jew has changed the text, I half believe;
Their Adam cozened our poor grandame Eve.
To hide their faults they rap out oaths, and tear;
Now, though we lie, we're too well bred to swear.
So we compound for half the sin we owe,
But men are dipt for soul and body too;
And, when found out, excuse themselves, pox cant them,
With Latin stuff, Perjuria ridet amantum.
I'm not book-learned, to know that word in vogue,
But I suspect 'tis Latin for a rogue.
I'm sure, I never heard that screech-owl hollowed
In my poor ears, but separation followed.
How can such perjured villains e'er be saved?
Achitophel's not half so false to David.
With vows and soft expressions to allure,
They stand, like foremen of a shop, demure:
No sooner out of sight, but they are gadding,
And for the next new face ride out a padding.
Yet, by their favour, when they have been kissing,
We can perceive the ready money missing.
Well! we may rail; but 'tis as good e'en wink;
Something we find, and something they will sink.
But, since they're at renouncing, 'tis our parts
To trump their diamonds, as they trump our hearts.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEFGGGHHIJKKLLMMNOPPQQQQRRSS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1011110111 1111010011 0101111101 11000101101 0111111101 01010010111 0101111111 1111010101 1111010101 1011011101 1111111101 1111011101 110110111 1111111101 1111111111 1110110111 1111110101 01110101111 1101111 1111111101 1101110101 11110111110 0111101010 11110101011 11111110 1101010101 1111010101 11011111110 01011111010 1111111110 11010101010 11111111111 1011010111 11110101101 11110111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,600 |
Words | 298 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 35 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,208 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 293 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:32 min read
- 49 Views
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"Prologue to the Princess of Cleves" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22694/prologue-to-the-princess-of-cleves>.
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