Analysis of Art Thou Poor



Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers?
      O sweet content!
   Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplexed?
      O punishment!
   Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vexed
   To add to golden numbers, golden numbers?
   O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content!
      Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
      Honest labour bears a lovely face;
    Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!

Canst drink the waters of the crisped spring?
     O sweet content!
  Swimm'st thou in wealth, yet sink'st in thine own tears?
     O punishment!
  Then he that patiently want's burden bears
  No burden bears, but is a king, a king:
  O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content!
     Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
     Honest labour bears a lovely face;
    Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!

Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
  Smiles awake you when you rise.
  Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
  And I will sing a lullaby:
  Rock them, rock them, lullaby.
  Care is heavy, therefore sleep you;
  You are care, and care must keep you.
  Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
  And I will sing a lullaby:
  Rock them, rock them, lullaby.


Scheme aBcDcaBAAE fBaDafBAAE aaGGGhhGGG
Poetic Form Tetractys  (30%)
Etheree  (27%)
Metre 111111101 1110 111111101 1100 111111111 11110101010 1110111110 101010101 10110101 1111111 110101011 1110 11011110111 1100 1111001101 1101110101 1110111110 101010101 10110101 1111111 101111 1011111 1101111 0111010 111110 1110111 11101111 1101111 0111010 111110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,119
Words 189
Sentences 20
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 266
Words per stanza (avg) 62
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 08, 2023

57 sec read
82

Thomas Dekker

Thomas Dekker was an English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer, a versatile and prolific writer whose career spanned several decades and brought him into contact with many of the period's most famous dramatists. more…

All Thomas Dekker poems | Thomas Dekker Books

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