Analysis of To My Lord Buckhurst, Very Young, Playing With A Cat
Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721
The amorous youth, whose tender breast
Was by his darling Cat possest,
Obtain'd of Venus his desire,
Howe'er irregular his fire:
Nature the power of love obey'd,
The Cat became a blushing maid,
And on the happy change the boy
Employ'd his wonder and his joy.
Take care, O beauteous child, take care,
Lest thou prefer so rash a prayer,
Nor vainly hope the queen of love,
Will e'er thy favourite's charms improve.
O quickly from her shrine retreat,
Or tremble for thy darling's fate.
The queen of love, who soon will see
Her own Adonis live in thee,
Will lightly her first loss deplore,
Will easily forgive the boar:
Her eyes with tears no more will flow,
With jealous rage her breast will glow,
And on her tabby rival's face
She deep will mark a new disgrace.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFGHIJJKKLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010011101 1111011 011101010 100100110 100101101 01010101 01010101 01110011 1111111 11011101 11010111 11011101 11010101 1101111 01111111 01010101 11001101 11000101 01111111 11010111 01010101 11110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 747 |
Words | 140 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 591 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 138 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 78 Views
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"To My Lord Buckhurst, Very Young, Playing With A Cat" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27473/to-my-lord-buckhurst%2C-very-young%2C-playing-with-a-cat>.
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