Analysis of How Soon Hath Time

John Milton 1608 (Cheapside) – 1674 (Chalfont St Giles)



How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stoln on his wing my three and twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on wtih full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,
That I to manhood am arrived so near,
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits endu'th.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven;
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Taskmaster's eye.


Scheme ABBCABBADEFGDF
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010111 11111101001 1101111101 111111110111 0111010101 111110111 010111101 1111010101 1111111111 11110101010 111110111 011111001110 1111111111 11001111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 613
Words 118
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 468
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

36 sec read
223

John Milton

John Milton was the Secretary of State of Georgia from 1777 to 1799. more…

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