Farewell Ungrateful Traitor

John Dryden 1631 (Aldwincle) – 1631 (London)



Farewell ungrateful traitor,
Farewell my perjured swain,
Let never injured creature
Believe a man again.
The pleasure of possessing
Surpasses all expressing,
But 'tis too short a blessing,
And love too long a pain.

'Tis easy to deceive us
In pity of your pain,
But when we love you leave us
To rail at you in vain.
Before we have descried it,
There is no bliss beside it,
But she that once has tried it
Will never love again.

The passion you pretended
Was only to obtain,
But when the charm is ended
The charmer you disdain.
Your love by ours we measure
Till we have lost our treasure,
But dying is a pleasure,
When living is a pain.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

36 sec read
2,750

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABACDDDB EBEBFFFC GBGBAAAB
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 618
Words 121
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

John Dryden

John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made Poet Laureate in 1668. more…

All John Dryden poems | John Dryden Books

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  • Siradnan Gakhar
    Siradnan Gakhar
    I need the complete notes like - critical appreciation, analysis, explanation of the poem Farewell Ungrateful Traitor
    LikeReply 13 years ago

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