Analysis of The Merchant, To Secure His Treasure

Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721



The merchant, to secure his treasure,
Conveys it in a borrowed name:
Euphelia serves to grace my measure,
But Cloe is my real flame.

My softest verse, my darling lyre
Upon Euphelia's toilet lay—
When Cloe 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 whilst I sing Euphelia's praise,
I fix my soul on Cloe's eyes.

Fair Cloe blushed; Euphelia frowned:
I sung, and gazed; I played, and trembled:
And Venus to the Loves around
Remarked how ill we all dissembled.


Scheme ABAB XCAC DEDE FXFF
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 010101110 0110011 1111110 111111 11011101 011101 11100010 11111111 11111111 11110111 011111 1111111 11111 110111010 01010101 0111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 538
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) 105
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
54

Matthew Prior

Matthew Prior was an English poet and diplomat. more…

All Matthew Prior poems | Matthew Prior Books

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