Analysis of A Black Patch On Lucasta's Face

Richard Lovelace 1618 – 1657



Dull as I was, to think that a court fly
            Presum'd so neer her eye;
            When 'twas th' industrious bee
        Mistook her glorious face for paradise,
To summe up all his chymistry of spice;
  With a brave pride and honour led,
  Neer both her suns he makes his bed,
And, though a spark, struggles to rise as red.
            Then aemulates the gay
              Daughter of day;
      Acts the romantick phoenix' fate,
  When now, with all his sweets lay'd out in state,
    LUCASTA scatters but one heat,
And all the aromatick pills do sweat,
And gums calcin'd themselves to powder beat,
          Which a fresh gale of air
          Conveys into her hair;
          Then chaft, he's set on fire,
And in these holy flames doth glad expire;
      And that black marble tablet there
        So neer her either sphere
      Was plac'd; nor foyl, nor ornament,
But the sweet little bee's large monument.


Scheme AABCCDDDEEFFGHGIIJKILMM
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111011 011101 111101001 0101001110 11111111 1011011 11011111 0101101111 1101 1011 101101 1111111101 11111 0101111 011011101 101111 010101 1111110 0011011101 01110101 110101 11111100 1011011100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 906
Words 149
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 23
Lines Amount 23
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 617
Words per stanza (avg) 147
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
75

Richard Lovelace

Richard Lovelace was an English poet more…

All Richard Lovelace poems | Richard Lovelace Books

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    Lewis Carroll wrote: "You are old father William, the young man said..."
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    B "and your hair has become very white"
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    D "and your eyes have become less bright"