Analysis of When I by Thy Faire Shape Did Sweare

Richard Lovelace 1618 – 1657



When I by thy faire shape did sweare,
And mingled with each vowe a teare,
I lov'd, I lov'd thee best,
I swore as I profest.
For all the while you lasted warme and pure,
My oathes too did endure.
But once turn'd faithlesse to thy selfe and old,
They then with thee incessantly grew cold.

I swore my selfe thy sacrifice
By th' ebon bowes that guard thine eyes,
Which now are alter'd white,
And by the glorious light
Of both those stars, which of their spheres bereft,
Only the gellie's left.
Then changed thus, no more I'm bound to you,
Then swearing to a saint that proves untrue.


Scheme AABBAACC XXDDEEXA
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 01011101 111111 11111 1101110101 111101 111111101 1111010011 1111110 111111111 111101 0101001 1111111101 10011 111111111 1101011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 591
Words 114
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 223
Words per stanza (avg) 55
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
105

Richard Lovelace

Richard Lovelace was an English poet more…

All Richard Lovelace poems | Richard Lovelace Books

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