Analysis of Sonnet LVI: When Like an Eaglet

Michael Drayton 1563 (Hartshill) – 1631 (London)



When like an eaglet I first found my Love,
For that the virtue I thereof would know,
Upon the nest I set it forth to prove
If it were of that kingly kind or no;
But it no sooner say my Sun appear,
But on her rays with open eyes it stood,
To show that I had hatch'd it for the air
And rightly came from that brave mounting brood;
And, when the plumes were summ'd with sweet desire,
To prove the pinions it ascends the skies;
Do what I could, it needsly would aspire
To my Soul's Sun, those two celestial eyes.
Thus from my breast, where it was bred alone,
It after thee is, like an eaglet, flown.


Scheme ABCBDEFGHIJIKK
Poetic Form
Metre 111111111 110101111 0101111111 1101110111 1111011101 1101110111 1111111101 0101111101 01010111010 110110101 111111101 1111110101 1111111101 110111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 601
Words 122
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 456
Words per stanza (avg) 120
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
110

Michael Drayton

Michael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. more…

All Michael Drayton poems | Michael Drayton Books

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