Analysis of O, what shall I do

John Wilbye 1574 (Diss) – 1638 (Colchester)



O, what shall I do, or whither shall I turn me?
Shall I make unto her eyes? O, no, they'll burn me!
Shall I seal up my eyes and speak my part?
Then in a flood of tears I drown my heart,
For tears being stopped will swell for scope,
Though they overflow love, life and hope,
By beauty's eye
I'll choose to die.

At thy feet I fall, fair creature rich in beauty,
And for pity call; O kill not love and duty.
Let thy smooth tongue fan on my sense thy breath,
to stay thine eyes from burning me to death.
But if mercy be exiled
From a thing so fair compiled,
Then patiently
By thee I'll die.


Scheme AABBCCDD AAEEFFAD
Poetic Form
Metre 111111101111 111100111111 1111110111 1001111111 111011111 11101101 111 1111 111111101010 011011111010 1111111111 1111110111 111011 1011101 1100 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 579
Words 122
Sentences 9
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 221
Words per stanza (avg) 60
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
80

John Wilbye

John Wilbye (baptized 7 March 1574 – September 1638) was an English madrigal composer. more…

All John Wilbye poems | John Wilbye Books

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