Analysis of Cupid
Ben Jonson 1572 (Westminster) – 1637 (Westminster)
Beauties, have ye seen this toy,
Called love, a little boy
Almost naked, wanton, blind,
Cruel now, and then as kind?
If he be amongst ye, say!
He is Venus' runaway.
He hath of marks about him plenty;
Ye shall know him among twenty;
All his body is a fire,
And his breath a flame entire,
That, being shot like lightning in,
Wounds the heart, but not the skin.
He doth bear a golden bow,
And a quiver, hanging low,
Full of arrows, that outbrave
Dian's shafts, where, if he have
Any head more sharp than other,
With that first he strikes his mother.
Trust him not: his words, though sweet,
Seldom with his heart do meet;
All his practice is deceit,
Every gift is but a bait;
Not a kiss but poison bears,
And most treason in his tears.
If by these ye please to know him,
Beauties, be not nice, but show him,
Though ye had a will to hide him.
Now, we hope, ye'll not abide him,
Since ye hear his falser play,
And that he's Venus' runaway.
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF XXGGEE HHHXII JJJJCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1011111 110101 110101 1010111 1110111 111010 111101110 11110110 11101010 01101010 11011100 1011101 1110101 0010101 111011 111111 10111110 11111110 1111111 1011111 1110101 10011101 1011101 0110011 11111111 10111111 11101111 11111011 111111 0111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 917 |
Words | 186 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 23 Views
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"Cupid" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54833/cupid>.
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