Analysis of Poem 20

Edmund Spenser 1552 (London) – 1599 (London)



BVt let stil Silence trew night watches keepe,
That sacred peace may in assurance rayne,
And tymely sleep, when it is tyme to sleepe,
May poure his limbs forth on your pleasant playne,
The whiles an hundred little winged loues,
Like diuers fethered doues,
Shall fly and flutter round about your bed,
And in the secret darke, that none reproues,
Their prety stealthes shal worke, & snares shal spread
To filch away sweet snatches of delight,
Conceald through couert night.
Ye sonnes of Venus, play your sports at will,
For greedy pleasure, carelesse of your toyes,
Thinks more vpon her paradise of ioyes,
Then what ye do, albe it good or ill.
All night therefore attend your merry play,
For it will soone be day:
Now none doth hinder you, that say or sing,
Ne will the woods now answer, nor your Eccho ring.


Scheme ABABCCDCDEEFCCFGGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1111011101 1101100101 011111111 1111111101 011101011 1111 1101010111 000101111 11111111 1101110101 1111 1111011111 110101111 11101011 111111111 111011101 111111 1111011111 11011101111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 796
Words 146
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 19
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 636
Words per stanza (avg) 144
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
52

Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. more…

All Edmund Spenser poems | Edmund Spenser Books

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