Analysis of Break of Day

John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)



'Tis true, 'tis day; what though it be?
O wilt thou therefore rise from me?
Why should we rise, because 'tis light?
Did we lie down, because 'twas night?
Love which in spite of darkness brought us hither
Should in despite of light keep us together.

Light hath no tongue, but is all eye;
If it could speak as well as spy,
This were the worst that it could say -
That being well, I fain would stay,
And that I loved my heart and honour so,
That I would not from her, that had them, go.

Must business thee from hence remove?
Oh, that's the worst disease of love!
The poor, the foul, the false, love can
Admit, but not the busied man.
He which hath business, and makes love, doth do
Such wrong as when a married man doth woo.


Scheme AABBCC DDEEFF XXGGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 1111111 11110111 11110111 11011101110 10011111010 11111111 11111111 10011111 11011111 011111011 1111101111 11011101 11010111 01010111 01110101 1111001111 1111010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 713
Words 144
Sentences 11
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 182
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

43 sec read
163

John Donne

John Donne was an English poet, satirist, lawyer and a cleric in the Church of England. more…

All John Donne poems | John Donne Books

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