Analysis of O, what shall I do
John Wilbye 1574 (Diss) – 1638 (Colchester)
O, what shall I do, or whither shall I turn me?
Shall I make unto her eyes? O, no, they'll burn me!
Shall I seal up my eyes and speak my part?
Then in a flood of tears I drown my heart,
For tears being stopped will swell for scope,
Though they overflow love, life and hope,
By beauty's eye
I'll choose to die.
At thy feet I fall, fair creature rich in beauty,
And for pity call; O kill not love and duty.
Let thy smooth tongue fan on my sense thy breath,
to stay thine eyes from burning me to death.
But if mercy be exiled
From a thing so fair compiled,
Then patiently
By thee I'll die.
Scheme | AABBCCDD AAEEFFAD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111101111 111100111111 1111110111 1001111111 111011111 11101101 111 1111 111111101010 011011111010 1111111111 1111110111 111011 1011101 1100 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 579 |
Words | 122 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 221 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 80 Views
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"O, what shall I do" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24220/o%2C-what-shall-i-do>.
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