Analysis of The Paradox

John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)



No Lover saith, I love, nor any other
Can judge a perfect Lover;
Hee thinkes that else none can, nor will agree
That any loves but hee;
I cannot say I'lov'd. for who can say
Hee was kill'd yesterday?
Lover withh excesse of heat, more yong than old,
Death kills with too much cold;
Wee dye but once, and who lov'd last did die,
Hee that saith twice, doth lye:
For though hee seeme to move, and stirre a while,
It doth the sense beguile.
Such life is like the light which bideth yet
When the lights life is set,
Or like the heat, which fire in solid matter
Leave behinde, two houres after.
Once I lov's and dy'd; and am now become
Mine Epitaph and Tombe.
Here dead men speake their last, and so do I;
Love-slaine, loe, here I lye.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGAAHHEE
Poetic Form Tetractys  (25%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 11011111010 1100110 1111111101 110111 1101111111 11110 1011111111 111111 1111011111 111111 1111110101 110101 111101111 101111 110111001010 111110 1110101101 11001 1111110111 111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 717
Words 144
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 552
Words per stanza (avg) 142
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 29, 2023

45 sec read
267

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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