Analysis of Sonnet XVIII: Why Art Thou Chang'd?

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



Why art thou chang'd? O Phaon! tell me why?
Love flies reproach, when passion feels decay;
Or, I would paint the raptures of that day,
When, in sweet converse, mingling sigh with sigh,
I mark'd the graceful languor of thine eye
As on a shady bank entranc'd we lay:
O! Eyes! whose beamy radiance stole away
As stars fade trembling from the burning sky!
Why art thou chang'd? dear source of all my woes!
Though dark my bosom's tint, through ev'ry vein
A ruby tide of purest lustre flows,
Warm'd by thy love, or chill'd by thy disdain;
And yet no bliss this sensate Being knows;
Ah! why is rapture so allied to pain?


Scheme ABBAABBACDCDCD
Poetic Form
Metre 111111111 1101110101 111101111 10110100111 110101111 1101010111 1111100101 11110010101 1111111111 11111111 0101110101 1111111101 011111101 1111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 608
Words 116
Sentences 11
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 469
Words per stanza (avg) 114
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
115

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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