Analysis of A Retir'd Friendship
Katherine Philips 1632 (London) – 1664
Come, my Ardelia, to this bowre,
Where kindly mingling Souls a while,
Let's innocently spend an houre,
And at all serious follys smile
Here is no quarrelling for Crowns,
Nor fear of changes in our fate;
No trembling at the Great ones frowns
Nor any slavery of state.
Here's no disguise, nor treachery
Nor any deep conceal'd design;
From blood and plots this place is free,
And calm as are those looks of thine.
Here let us sit and bless our Starres
Who did such happy quiet give,
As that remov'd from noise of warres.
In one another's hearts we live.
We should we entertain a feare?
Love cares not how the world is turn'd.
If crouds of dangers should appeare,
Yet friendship can be unconcern'd.
We weare about us such a charme,
No horrour can be our offence;
For misheif's self can doe no harme
To friendship and to innocence.
Let's mark how soone Apollo's beams
Command the flocks to quit their meat,
And not intreat the neighbour -- streams
To quench their thirst, but coole their heat.
In such a scorching Age as this,
Whoever would not seek a shade
Deserve their happiness to misse,
As having their own peace betray'd.
But we (of one another's mind
Assur'd,) the boistrous world disdain;
With quiet souls, and unconfin'd,
Enjoy what princes wish in vain.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD AEAE CXCX AFAF GCGX HIHI XJCJ KLKL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (89%) |
Metre | 110100111 110100101 11000111 01110011 111111 111100101 110010111 11010011 11011100 11010101 11011111 01111111 111101101 11110101 11011111 01010111 1110101 11110111 1111011 1101101 11011101 1111101 1111111 11001100 11110101 01011111 011011 11111111 01010111 01011101 01110011 11011101 11110101 0101101 1101001 01110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,231 |
Words | 228 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 80 Views
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"A Retir'd Friendship" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25165/a-retir%27d-friendship>.
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