Analysis of A Paradox
Richard Lovelace 1618 – 1657
I.
Tis true the beauteous Starre
To which I first did bow
Burnt quicker, brighter far,
Than that which leads me now;
Which shines with more delight,
For gazing on that light
So long, neere lost my sight.
II.
Through foul we follow faire,
For had the world one face,
And earth been bright as ayre,
We had knowne neither place.
Indians smell not their neast;
A Swisse or Finne tastes best
The spices of the East.
III.
So from the glorious Sunne
Who to his height hath got,
With what delight we runne
To some black cave or grot!
And, heav'nly Sydney you
Twice read, had rather view
Some odde romance so new.
IV.
The god, that constant keepes
Unto his deities,
Is poore in joyes, and sleepes
Imprison'd in the skies.
This knew the wisest, who
From Juno stole, below
To love a bear or cow.
Scheme | ABCBCDDD ABEBEDXX AFXFDGGF XEXEXGXC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 11011 111111 110101 111111 111101 110111 111111 1 111101 110111 011111 111101 1001111 011111 010101 1 1101001 111111 110111 111111 01101 111101 110111 1 011101 101100 110101 010001 110101 110101 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 885 |
Words | 150 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 51 Views
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"A Paradox" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30123/a-paradox>.
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