Analysis of Sonnet XXXVI: Thou Purblind Boy

Michael Drayton 1563 (Hartshill) – 1631 (London)



Thou purblind boy, since thou hast been so slack
To wound her heart, whose eyes have wounded me,
And suffer'd her to glory in my wrack,
Thus to my aid I lastly conjure thee:
By hellish Styx, by which the Thund'rer swears,
By thy fair mother's unavoided power,
By Hecate's names, by Proserpine's sad tears
When she was rapt to the infernal bower,
By thine own loved Psyche, by the fires
Spent on thine alters flaming up to heav'n,
By all true lovers' sighs, vows, and desires,
By all the wounds that ever thou hast giv'n:
I conjure thee by all that I have nam'd
To make her love, or, Cupid, be thou damn'd.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGH
Poetic Form
Metre 111111111 1101111101 0100110011 1111110101 110111011 11110110 1111111 11111001010 1111101010 1111010111 11110110010 1101110111 1101111111 1101110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 627
Words 118
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 462
Words per stanza (avg) 114
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
86

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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