Analysis of My Lute, Awake
Sir Thomas Wyatt 1503 (Allington Castle, Kent) – 1542 (Clifton Maybank House, Dorset)
My labor that thou and I shall waste
And end that I have now begun,
For when this song is sung and past,
My lute, be still, for I have done.
As to be heard where ear is none,
As lead to grave in marble stone,
My song may pierce her heart as soon.
Should we then sigh or sing or moan?
No, no, my lute, for I have done.
Proud of the spoil that thou hast got
Of simple hearts through love's shot,
By whom, unkind, thou hast them won,
Think not he hath his bow forgot,
Although my lute and I have done.
Vengance shall fall on thy disdain
That makest but game on earnest pain;
Think not alone under the sun
Unquit to cause thy lovers plain
Although my lute and I have done.
Perchance thee lie withered and old
The winter nights that are so cold,
Plaining in vain unto the moon;
Thy wishes then dare not be told.
Care then who list, for I have done.
And then may chance thee to repent
The time that thou hast lost and spnt
To cause thy lovers sigh and swoon;
Then shalt thou know beauty but lent,
And wish and want as I have done.
Now cease, my lute, this is the last
Labor that thou and I shall waste
And ended is that we begun.
Now is the song both sung and past;
My lute, be still, for I have done.
Scheme | abcB bdedb ffbfB ggbgB hhehb iaeib cabcB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110110111 01111101 11111101 11111111 11111111 11110101 11110111 11111111 11111111 11011111 1101111 11011111 11111101 1110111 1111101 11111101 11011001 1111101 1110111 01111001 01011111 1011001 11011111 11111111 01111101 01111101 11110101 11111011 01011111 11111101 10110111 01011101 11011101 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,197 |
Words | 247 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 131 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 23, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 95 Views
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"My Lute, Awake" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35410/my-lute%2C-awake>.
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