Analysis of The Married Lover
Coventry Patmore 1823 (Woodford, London) – 1896 (Lymington)
Why, having won her, do I woo?
Because her spirit's vestal grace
Provokes me always to pursue,
But, spirit-like, eludes embrace;
Because her womanhood is such
That, as on court-days subjects kiss
The Queen's hand, yet so near a touch
Affirms no mean familiarness;
Nay, rather marks more fair the height
Which can with safety so neglect
To dread, as lower ladies might,
That grace could meet with disrespect;
Thus she with happy favour feeds
Allegiance from a love so high
That thence no false conceit proceeds
Of difference bridged, or state put by;
Because although in act and word
As lowly as a wife can be,
Her manners, when they call me lord,
Remind me 'tis by courtesy;
Not with her least consent of will,
Which would my proud affection hurt,
But by the noble style that still
Imputes an unattain'd desert;
Because her gay and lofty brows,
When all is won which hope can ask,
Reflect a light of hopeless snows
That bright in virgin ether bask;
Because, though free of the outer court
I am, this Temple keeps its shrine
Sacred to Heaven; because, in short,
She 's not and never can be mine.
Scheme | ABABCDCBEFEFGHGHIJKJLMLMNOPOQRQR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111 01010101 0111101 11010101 0101011 11111101 01111101 01111 11011101 11110101 11110101 1111101 1111011 01010111 11110101 110011111 0110101 11010111 01011111 01111100 11010111 11110101 11010111 11110 01010101 11111111 01011101 11010101 011110101 11110111 101100101 111010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,101 |
Words | 199 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 859 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 197 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 12, 2023
- 1:00 min read
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"The Married Lover" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7388/the-married-lover>.
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