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

Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson was a playwright, poet, and literary critic of the seventeenth century, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. more…

All Ben Jonson poems | Ben Jonson Books

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