Analysis of Sonnet VI: Is It to Love

Mary Darby Robinson 1757 (England) – 1800 (England)



Is it to love, to fix the tender gaze,
To hide the timid blush, and steal away;
To shun the busy world, and waste the day
In some rude mountain's solitary maze?
Is it to chant one name in ceaseless lays,
To hear no words that other tongues can say,
To watch the pale moon's melancholy ray,
To chide in fondness, and in folly praise?
Is it to pour th' involuntary sigh,
To dream of bliss, and wake new pangs to prove;
To talk, in fancy, with the speaking eye,
Then start with jealousy, and wildly rove;
Is it to loathe the light, and wish to die?
For these I feel,--and feel that they are Love.


Scheme ABBAABBACDCECF
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110101 1101010101 1101010101 011101001 1111110101 1111110111 110111001 1101000101 11111101001 1111011111 1101010101 1111000101 1111010111 1111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 588
Words 119
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 450
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
99

Mary Darby Robinson

Mary Robinson was an English actress, poet, dramatist, novelist, and celebrity figure. more…

All Mary Darby Robinson poems | Mary Darby Robinson Books

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