Analysis of To a Child of Quality, Five Years Old, the Author Suppos'd Forty
Matthew Prior 1664 – 1721
Lords, knights, and squires, the num'rous band,
That wear the fair Miss Mary's fetters,
Were summon'd by her high command,
To show their passions by their letters.
My pen amongst the rest I took,
Lest those bright eyes that cannot read
Should dart their kindling fires, and look
The pow'r they have to be obey'd.
Nor quality, nor reputation,
Forbid me yet my flame to tell,
Dear Five-years-old befriends my passion,
And I may write till she can spell.
For while she makes her silk-worms beds
With all the tender things I swear;
Whilst all the house my passion reads,
In papers round her baby's hair;
She may receive and own my flame,
For though the strictest prudes should know it,
She'll pass for a most virtuous dame,
And I for an unhappy poet.
Then too, alas! when she shall tear
The lines some younger rival sends;
She'll give me leave to write, I fear,
And we shall still continue friends.
For as our different ages move,
'Tis so ordain'd (would Fate but mend it)
That I shall be past making love,
When she begins to comprehend it.
Scheme | ABAB CXCX DEDE XFXF GHGX FIXI XHXH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (71%) |
Metre | 11010011 110111010 01010101 111101110 11010111 11111101 111101001 011111101 11001010 01111111 111101110 01111111 11110111 11010111 11011101 01010101 11010111 110101111 111011001 011101010 11011111 01110101 11111111 01110101 1110100101 110111111 11111101 11011011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,017 |
Words | 190 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 67 Views
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"To a Child of Quality, Five Years Old, the Author Suppos'd Forty" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27460/to-a-child-of-quality%2C-five-years-old%2C-the-author-suppos%27d-forty>.
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