Analysis of Song

Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721



THE merchant, to secure his treasure,
   Conveys it in a borrow'd name:
Euphelia serves to grace my measure;
   But Chloe is my real flame.

My softest verse, my darling lyre,
   Upon Euphelia's toilet lay;
When Chloe noted her desire
   That I should sing, that I should play.

My lyre I tune, my voice I raise;
   But with my numbers mix my sighs:
And while I sing Euphelia's praise,
   I fix my soul on Chloe's eyes.

Fair Chloe blush'd: Euphelia frown'd:
   I sung, and gazed: I play'd, and trembled:
And Venus to the Loves around
   Remark'd, how ill we all dissembled.


Scheme ABAB XCAC DEDE FXFF
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 010101110 0110011 1111110 1101111 11011101 011101 110100010 11111111 11111111 11110111 011111 1111111 110111 110111010 01010101 0111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 579
Words 102
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 104
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
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Matthew Prior

Matthew Prior was an English poet and diplomat. more…

All Matthew Prior poems | Matthew Prior Books

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