Analysis of A Dialogue Between The Soul And Body

Andrew Marvell 1621 (Winestead) – 1678 (London)



Soul
O Who shall, from this Dungeon, raise
A Soul inslav'd so many wayes?
With bolts of Bones, that fetter'd stands
In Feet ; and manacled in Hands.
Here blinded with an Eye ; and there
Deaf with the drumming of an Ear.
A Soul hung up, as 'twere, in Chains
Of Nerves, and Arteries, and Veins.
Tortur'd, besides each other part,1
In a vain Head, and double Heart.

Body
O who shall me deliver whole,
From bonds of this Tyrannic Soul?
Which, stretcht upright, impales me so,
That mine own Precipice I go;
And warms and moves this needless Frame:
(A Fever could but do the same.)
And, wanting where its spight to try,
Has made me live to let me dye.
A Body that could never rest,
Since this ill Spirit it possest.

Soul
What Magic could me thus confine
Within anothers Grief to pine?
Where whatsoever it complain,
I feel, that cannot feel, the pain.
And all my Care its self employes,
That to preserve, which me destroys:
Constrain'd not only to indure
Diseases, but, whats worse, the Cure:
And ready oft the Port to gain,
Am Shipwrackt into Health again.

Body
But Physick yet could never reach
The Maladies Thou me dost teach;
Whom first the Cramp of Hope does Tear:
And then the Palsie Shakes of Fear.
The Pestilence of Love does heat :
Or Hatred's hidden Ulcer eat.
Joy's chearful Madness does perplex:
Or Sorrow's other Madness vex.
Which Knowledge forces me to know;
And Memory will not foregoe.
What but a Soul could have the wit
To build me up for Sin so fit?
So Architects do square and hew,
Green Trees that in the Forest grew.


Scheme Abbccdxeeff Gaahhiijjxf Akkllbxdxlx Gmmdxnnoohxppqq
Poetic Form
Metre 1 11111101 0111101 11111101 010101 11011101 11010111 01111101 11010001 10011101 00110101 10 11110101 111111 11010111 11110011 01011101 01011101 01011111 11111111 01011101 1111011 1 11011101 011111 1010101 11110101 0111111 11011101 0111011 01010101 01010111 1101101 10 1111101 01001111 11011111 0101111 01001111 1110101 1110101 1110101 11010111 0100111 11011101 11111111 1101101 11100101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,492
Words 285
Sentences 19
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 11, 11, 11, 15
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 296
Words per stanza (avg) 71
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

1:27 min read
107

Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend of John Milton. more…

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