Analysis of The Daughter of Herodias

Henry Vaughan 1621 (Brecknockshire) – 1695



Matthew xiv 6-11

Vain, sinful art! who first did fit
Thy lewd loathed motions unto sounds,
And made grave music like wild wit
Err in loose airs beyond her bounds?

What fires hath he heaped on his head?
Since to his sins (as needs it must,)
His art adds still (though he be dead,)
New fresh accounts of blood and lust.

Leave then young sorceress; the ice
Will those coy spirits cast asleep,
Which teach thee now to please his eyes
Who doth thy loathsome mother keep.

But thou hast pleased so well, he swears,
And gratifies thy sin with vows:
His shameless lust in public wears,
And to thy soft arts strongly bows.

Skilful enchantress and true bred!
Who out of evil can bring forth good?
Thy mother's nets in thee were spread,
She tempts to incest, thou to blood.


Scheme X ABAB CDCD XEXE FGFG CXCX
Poetic Form
Metre 101 11011111 11110101 01110111 10110101 110111111 11111111 11111111 11011101 111101 11110101 11111111 11110101 11111111 0101111 11010101 01111101 11011 111101111 11010101 1111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 749
Words 145
Sentences 10
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 99
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

43 sec read
130

Henry Vaughan

Henry Vaughan was a Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet. Vaughan and his twin brother, the hermetic philosopher and alchemist Thomas Vaughan, were the sons of Thomas Vaughan and his wife Denise of 'Trenewydd', Newton, in Brecknockshire, Wales. Their grandfather, William, was the owner of Tretower Court. Vaughan spent most of his life in the village of Llansantffraed, near Brecon, where he is also buried. more…

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