Analysis of Song Of A Scholar And His Mistress, Who, Being Crossed By Their Friends, Fell Mad For One Another; And Now First Meet In Bedlam

John Dryden 1631 (Aldwincle) – 1631 (London)



The Lovers enter at opposite doors, each held by a keeper.

Phillis.
Look, look I see—­I see my love appear!
’Tis he—­’Tis he alone;
For, like him, there is none:
’Tis the dear, dear man, ’tis thee, dear.

Amyntas.
Hark! the winds war;
The foamy waves roar;
I see a ship afar:
Tossing and tossing, and making to the shore:
But what’s that I view,
So radiant of hue,
St. Hermo, St Hermo, that sits upon the sails?
Ah! No, no, no.
St. Hermo never, never shone so bright;'
'Tis Phillis, only Phillis, can shoot so fair a light;
'Tis Phillis, ’tis Phillis, that saves the ship alone,
For all the winds are hush’d, and the storm is overblown.

Phillis.
Let me go, let me run, let me fly to his arms.

Amyntas.
If all the fates combine,
And all the furies join,
I’ll force my way to Phillis, and break through the charm.

[Here they break from their keepers, run to each other, and embrace.]

Phillis.
Shall I marry the man I love?
And shall I conclude my pains?
Now bless’d be the powers above,
I feel the blood bound in my veins;
With a lively leap it began to move,
And the vapours leave my brains.

Amyntas.
Body join’d to body, and heart join’d to heart,
To make sure of the cure,
Go call the man in black, to mumble o’er his part.

Phillis.
But suppose he should stay—­

Amyntas.
At worst if he delay,
'Tis a work must be done,
We’ll borrow but a day,
And the better, the sooner begun.

[They run out together hand in hand.]


Scheme x Abcdb Aeexeffxxggcc Ax Axxx x Ahihixi Ajxj Ak Akdkd x
Poetic Form Tetractys  (31%)
Metre 0101011001111010 10 1111111101 111101 111111 10111111 1 1011 01011 110101 10010010101 10111 110011 1111110101 1111 111010111 1101010111101 110110110101 110111001101 10 111111111111 1 110110 01011 111111001101 111111011110001 10 11100111 0110111 11101001 11011011 1010110111 001111 1 10111001111 111101 110101110111 10 101111 1 111101 101111 11101 001001001 111010101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,445
Words 279
Sentences 29
Stanzas 11
Stanza Lengths 1, 5, 13, 2, 4, 1, 7, 4, 2, 5, 1
Lines Amount 45
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 95
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 11, 2023

1:23 min read
97

John Dryden

John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made Poet Laureate in 1668. more…

All John Dryden poems | John Dryden Books

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    "Song Of A Scholar And His Mistress, Who, Being Crossed By Their Friends, Fell Mad For One Another; And Now First Meet In Bedlam" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22706/song-of-a-scholar-and-his-mistress%2C-who%2C-being-crossed-by-their-friends%2C-fell-mad-for-one-another%3B-and-now-first-meet-in-bedlam>.

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