Analysis of The Mower to the Glow-Worms

Andrew Marvell 1621 (Winestead) – 1678 (London)



Ye living lamps, by whose dear light
    The nightingale does sit so late,
    And studying all the summer night,
    Her matchless songs does meditate;

Ye county comets, that portend
    No war nor prince's funeral,
    Shining unto no higher end
    Than to presage the grass's fall;

Ye glow-worms, whose officious flame
  To wand'ring mowers shows the way,
  That in the night have lost their aim,
  And after foolish fires do stray;

Your courteous lights in vain you waste,
  Since Juliana here is come,
  For she my mind hath so displac'd
  That I shall never find my home.


Scheme ABAB CXCX DEDE FXFX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 11011111 01001111 010010101 011110 11010101 11110100 10101101 1110011 111111 11110101 10011111 010101011 110010111 1010111 11111101 11110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 581
Words 98
Sentences 2
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 107
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
92

Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend of John Milton. more…

All Andrew Marvell poems | Andrew Marvell Books

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    What is the term for the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
    A Dithyramb
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