Analysis of Sonnet (II)

George Herbert 1593 (Montgomery) – 1633 (Bemerton)



Sure Lord, there is enough in thee to dry
   Oceans of Ink ; for, as the Deluge did
   Cover the Earth, so doth thy Majesty :
Each Cloud distills thy praise, and doth forbid
Poets to turn it to another use.
   Roses and Lillies speak thee ; and to make
   A pair of Cheeks of them, is thy abuse.
Why should I Womens eyes for Chrystal take?
Such poor invention burns in their low mind,
   Whose fire is wild, and doth not upward go
   To praise, and on thee Lord, some Ink bestow.
Open the bones, and you shall nothing find
   In the best face but filth, when Lord, in thee
   The beauty lies, in the discovery


Scheme ABCBDEDEFGGFCC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010111 1011110101 1001111100 1101110101 1011110101 100111011 0111111101 111111101 1101010111 11011011101 1101111101 1001011101 0011111101 0101000100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 619
Words 117
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 449
Words per stanza (avg) 117
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

35 sec read
124

George Herbert

The Very Reverend Honourable George Herbert was an Anglican priest. more…

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