Analysis of Sappho's Song

John Lyly 1553 (Canterbury) – 1606 (London)



O cruel Love, on thee I lay
My curse, which shall strike blind the day ;
Never may sleep with velvet hand
Charm thine eyes with sacred wand ;
Thy jailors shall be hopes and fears ;
Thy prison-mates groans, sighs, and tears ;
Thy play to wear out weary times,
Fantastic passions, vows, and rimes ;
Thy bread be frowns ; thy drink be gall,
Such as when you Phao call ;
The bed thou liest on be despair,
Thy sleep fond dreams, thy dreams long care ;
Hope, like thy fool, at thy bed's head,
Mock thee, till madness strike thee dead,
As, Phao, thou dost me with thy proud eyes ;
In thee poor Sappho lives, for thee she dies.


Scheme AABCDEFFGGHHIIJJ
Poetic Form
Metre 11011111 11111101 10111101 1111101 1111101 11011101 11111101 01010101 11111111 111111 01111101 11111111 11111111 11110111 111111111 011111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 627
Words 116
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 467
Words per stanza (avg) 123
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

35 sec read
148

John Lyly

John Lyly was an English writer, poet, dramatist, playwright, and politician, best known for his books Euphues, The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. more…

All John Lyly poems | John Lyly Books

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