Analysis of Lines: Written In 'Letters Of An Italian Nun And An English Gentleman'

George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)



'Away, away, your fleeting arts
May now betray some simpler hearts;
And you will smile at their believing,
And they shall weep at your deceiving.'

ANSWER TO THE FOREGOING, ADDRESSED TO MISS ---.

Dear, simple girl, those flattering arts,
From which thou'dst guard frail female hearts,
Exist but in imagination,--
Mere phantoms of thine own creation;
For he who views that witching grace,
That perfect form, that lovely face,
With eyes admiring, oh! believe me,
He never wishes to deceive thee:
Once in thy polish'd mirror glance,
Thou'lt there descry that elegance
Which from our sex demands such praises,
But envy in the other raises:
Then he who tells thee of thy beauty,
Believe me, only does his duty:
Ah! fly not from the candid youth;
It is not flattery,--'tis truth.


Scheme AABB X AACCDDEEXXFFEEGG
Poetic Form
Metre 01011101 110111001 011111010 011111010 10100100111 110111001 1111111 01100010 110111010 11111101 10111101 110101011 110101011 10110101 1111100 1110101110 110001010 111111110 011101110 11110101 11110011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 769
Words 138
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 1, 16
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 200
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
51

George Gordon Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet, peer and politician who became a revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence, and is considered one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular. He travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died of disease leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi. His only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace, is regarded as a foundational figure in the field of computer programming based on her notes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Byron's illegitimate children include Allegra Byron, who died in childhood, and possibly Elizabeth Medora Leigh.  more…

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