Analysis of The Lie
Sir Walter Raleigh 1552 (Hayes Barton, East Budleigh, Devon) – 1618 (London)
Go, soul, the body's guest,
Upon a thankless errand;
Fear not to touch the best;
The truth shall be thy warrant:
Go, since I needs must die,
And give the world the lie.
Say to the court, it glows
And shines like rotten wood;
Say to the church, it shows
What's good, and doth no good:
If church and court reply,
Then give them both the lie.
Tell potentates, they live
Acting by others' action;
Not loved unless they give,
Not strong but by a faction.
If potentates reply,
Give potentates the lie.
Tell men of high condition,
That manage the estate,
Their purpose is ambition,
Their practice only hate:
And if they once reply,
Then give them all the lie.
Tell them that brave it most,
They beg for more by spending,
Who, in their greatest cost,
Seek nothing but commending.
And if they make reply,
Then give them all the lie.
Tell zeal it wants devotion;
Tell love it is but lust;
Tell time it is but motion;
Tell flesh it is but dust:
And wish them not reply,
For thou must give the lie.
Tell age it daily wasteth;
Tell honour how it alters;
Tell beauty how she blasteth;
Tell favour how it falters:
And as they shall reply,
Give every one the lie.
Tell wit how much it wrangles
In tickle points of niceness;
Tell wisdom she entangles
Herself in overwiseness:
And when they do reply,
Straight give them both the lie.
Tell physic of her boldness;
Tell skill it is pretension;
Tell charity of coldness;
Tell law it is contention:
And as they do reply,
So give them still the lie.
Tell fortune of her blindness;
Tell nature of decay;
Tell friendship of unkindness;
Tell justice of delay:
And if they will reply,
Then give them all the lie.
Tell arts they have no soundness,
But vary by esteeming;
Tell schools they want profoundness,
And stand too much on seeming:
If arts and schools reply,
Give arts and schools the lie.
Tell faith it's fled the city;
Tell how the country erreth;
Tell manhood shakes off pity
And virtue least preferreth:
And if they do reply,
Spare not to give the lie.
So when thou hast, as I
Commanded thee, done blabbing--
Although to give the lie
Deserves no less than stabbing--
Stab at thee he that will,
No stab the soul can kill.
Scheme | axaxbb cdcdbb xexebb efefbB xgxgbB ehehbb ijijbb xkccbb kekebb klclbB kgcgbb mimibb bgbgnn |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101 0101010 111101 0111110 111111 010101 110111 011101 110111 110111 110101 111101 11011 1011010 110111 1111010 11001 11001 1111010 110001 1101010 110101 011101 111101 111111 1111110 101101 1101010 011101 111101 1111010 111111 1111110 111111 011101 111101 111101 111110 110111 111110 011101 1100101 1111110 0101110 11011 0101 011101 111101 111010 1111010 1100110 1111010 011101 111101 1101010 110101 11011 110101 011101 111101 1111110 11011 11111 0111110 110101 110101 1111010 110101 111110 01011 011101 111101 111111 010111 11101 0111110 111111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,084 |
Words | 401 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 78 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 128 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 2:01 min read
- 135 Views
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"The Lie" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35458/the-lie>.
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