Analysis of From 'Samson Agonistes' i
John Milton 1608 (Cheapside) – 1674 (Chalfont St Giles)
OH how comely it is and how reviving
To the Spirits of just men long opprest!
When God into the hands of thir deliverer
Puts invincible might
To quell the mighty of the Earth, th' oppressour,
The brute and boist'rous force of violent men
Hardy and industrious to support
Tyrannic power, but raging to pursue
The righteous and all such as honour Truth;
He all thir Ammunition
And feats of War defeats
With plain Heroic magnitude of mind
And celestial vigour arm'd,
Thir Armories and Magazins contemns,
Renders them useless, while
With winged expedition
Swift as the lightning glance he executes
His errand on the wicked, who surpris'd
Lose thir defence distracted and amaz'd.
ALL is best, though we oft doubt,
What th' unsearchable dispose
Of highest wisdom brings about,
And ever best found in the close.
Oft he seems to hide his face,
But unexpectedly returns
And to his faithful Champion hath in place
Bore witness gloriously; whence Gaza mourns
And all that band them to resist
His uncontroulable intent.
His servants he with new acquist
Of true experience from this great event
With peace and consolation hath dismist,
And calm of mind all passion spent.
O FOR some honest lover's ghost,
Some kind unbodied post
Sent from the shades below!
I strangely long to know
Whether the noble chaplets wear
Those that their mistress' scorn did bear
Or those that were used kindly.
For whatsoe'er they tell us here
To make those sufferings dear,
'Twill there, I fear, be found
That to the being crown'd
T' have loved alone will not suffice,
Unless we also have been wise
And have our loves enjoy'd.
What posture can we think him in
That, here unloved, again
Departs, and 's thither gone
Where each sits by his own?
Or how can that Elysium be
Where I my mistress still must see
Circled in other's arms?
For there the judges all are just,
And Sophonisba must
Be his whom she held dear,
Not his who loved her here.
The sweet Philoclea, since she died,
Lies by her Pirocles his side,
Not by Amphialus.
Some bays, perchance, or myrtle bough
For difference crowns the brow
Of those kind souls that were
The noble martyrs here:
And if that be the only odds
(As who can tell?), ye kinder gods,
Give me the woman here!
Scheme | XABABCADXEXAADXEXAA AXAXFXFXAAAAAA AAGGHHI JKAAXXA XCXXIIX AAKJAAD LLBJMMJ |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101101010 101011111 110101110100 101001 11010101111 0101111001 1000100101 110110101 010011111 111010 011101 110101011 001011 1100011 101101 11010 110101110 1101010101 1101010001 1111111 111101 11010101 01011001 1111111 1010001 01110100101 11010001101 01111101 1101 1101111 11010011101 11001011 01111101 11110101 1111 110101 110111 1001011 11110111 1110110 111111 1111001 111111 110101 111011101 01110111 0110101 11011110 110101 010111 111111 111101001 11110111 100101 11010111 011 111111 111101 011111 110111 111 11011101 1100101 111110 010101 01110101 11111101 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,270 |
Words | 394 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 19, 14, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 250 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:01 min read
- 127 Views
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"From 'Samson Agonistes' i" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23799/from-%27samson-agonistes%27-i>.
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