Analysis of Sonnet XLIX: Thou Leaden Brain
Michael Drayton 1563 (Hartshill) – 1631 (London)
Thou leaden brain, which censur'st what I write,
And say'st my lines be dull and do not move,
I marvel not thou feel'st not my delight,
Which never felt'st my fiery touch of love.
But thou, whose pen hath like a pack-horse serv'd,
Whose stomach unto gall hath turn'd thy food,
Whose senses, like poor prisoners, hunger-starv'd,
Whose grief hath parch'd thy body, dried thy blood,
Thou which hast scorned life and hated death,
And in a moment mad, sober, glad, and sorry,
Thou which hast bann'd thy thoughts and curs'd thy breath
With thousand plagues, more than in Purgatory,
Thou thus whose spirit Love in his fire refines,
Come thou, and read, admire, applaud my lines.
Scheme | ABACDEFGHIHIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111111 01111110111 11011111101 110111100111 1111110111 1101011111 11011100101 1111110111 111110101 000101101010 1111110111 1101110100 111101011001 1101010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 679 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 518 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 49 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Sonnet XLIX: Thou Leaden Brain" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28143/sonnet-xlix%3A-thou-leaden-brain>.
Discuss this Michael Drayton poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In