Analysis of Man's Civil War
Robert Southwell 1561 (Horsham St Faith) – 1595
MY hovering thoughts would fly to heaven
And quiet nestle in the sky,
Fain would my ship in Virtue's shore
Without remove at anchor lie.
But mounting thoughts are haled down
With heavy poise of mortal load,
And blustring storms deny my ship
In Virtue's haven secure abode.
When inward eye to heavenly sights
Doth draw my longing heart's desire,
The world with jesses of delights
Would to her perch my thoughts retire,
Fon Fancy trains to Pleasure's lure,
Though Reason stiffly do repine;
Though Wisdom woo me to the saint,
Yet Sense would win me to the shrine.
Where Reason loathes, there Fancy loves,
And overrules the captive will;
Foes senses are to Virtue's lore,
They draw the wit their wish to fill.
Need craves consent of soul to sense,
Yet divers bents breed civil fray ;
Hard hap where halves must disagree,
Or truce halves the whole betray !
O cruel fight ! where fighting friend
With love doth kill a favoring foe,
Where peace with sense is war with God,
And self-delight the seed of woe !
Dame Pleasure's drugs are steeped in sin,
Their sugared taste doth breed annoy ;
O fickle sense ! beware her gin,
Sell not thy soul to brittle joy !
Scheme | ABCB XDXD EXEX XAXX XFCF XGXG XHXH IJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 1100111110 01010001 1111011 01011101 1101111 11011101 0110111 01100101 110111001 111101010 0111101 11011101 1101111 1101011 11011101 11111101 11011101 0100101 1101111 11011111 11011111 11011101 11111001 1110101 11011101 111101001 11111111 01010111 1111101 11011101 11010101 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,158 |
Words | 204 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 113 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 24, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 151 Views
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"Man's Civil War" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31926/man%27s-civil-war>.
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