Analysis of The New Year's Gift To Phyllis
Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721
The circling months begin this day
To run their yearly ring,
And long-breathed time, which ne'er will stay,
Refits his wings and shoots away,
It round again to bring.
Who feels the force of female eyes
And thinks some nymph divine,
Now brings his annual sacrifice,
Some pretty toy or neat device
To offer at her shrine.
But I can pay no offering
To show how I adore,
Since I have but a heart to bring —
A downright foolish, faithful thing,
And that you had before.
Yet we may give, for custom sake,
What will to both be new:
My constancy a gift I'll make
And in return of it will take
Some levity from you.
Scheme | ABAABCDEEDBFBBFGHGGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010010111 111101 01111111 1110101 110111 1101111 011101 11110010 11011101 110101 11111100 111101 11110111 0110101 011101 11111101 111111 11000111 00011111 110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 613 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 470 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 92 Views
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"The New Year's Gift To Phyllis" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27446/the-new-year%27s-gift-to-phyllis>.
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