Analysis of The Lover's Resolution
George Wither 1588 (Bentworth) – 1667
SHALL I, wasting in despair,
Die because a woman 's fair?
Or make pale my cheeks with care
'Cause another's rosy are?
Be she fairer than the day,
Or the flow'ry meads in May,
If she think not well of me,
What care I how fair she be?
Shall my silly heart be pined
'Cause I see a woman kind?
Or a well disposed nature
Joined with a lovely feature?
Be she meeker, kinder, than
Turtle-dove or pelican,
If she be not so to me,
What care I how kind she be?
Shall a woman's virtues move
Me to perish for her love?
Or her well-deservings known
Make me quite forget my own?
Be she with that goodness blest
Which may merit name of Best,
If she be not such to me,
What care I how good she be?
'Cause her fortune seems too high,
Shall I play the fool and die?
She that bears a noble mind,
If not outward helps she find,
Thinks what with them he would do
That without them dares her woo;
And unless that mind I see,
What care I how great she be?
Great, or good, or kind, or fair,
I will ne'er the more despair;
If she love me, this believe,
I will die ere she shall grieve;
If she slight me when I woo,
I can scorn and let her go;
For if she be not for me,
What care I for whom she be?
Scheme | AAAXBBCC DDEEXXCC XXFFGGCC HHDDIICC AAJJIXCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (35%) |
Metre | 1110001 10101011 1111111 1010101 1110101 101101 1111111 1111111 1110111 1110101 1010110 1101010 1110101 1011100 1111111 1111111 1010101 1110101 10111 1110111 1111101 1110111 1111111 1111111 1010111 1110101 1110101 1110111 1111111 1011101 0011111 1111111 1111111 1110101 1111101 1111111 1111111 1110101 1111111 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,210 |
Words | 246 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 176 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 137 Views
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"The Lover's Resolution" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15834/the-lover%27s-resolution>.
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