Analysis of To anthea, who may command him any thing
Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)
Bid me to live, and I will live
Thy Protestant to be;
Or bid me love, and I will give
A loving heart to thee.
A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
A heart as sound and free
As in the whole world thou canst find,
That heart I'll give to thee.
Bid that heart stay, and it will stay
To honour thy decree;
Or bid it languish quite away,
And't shall do so for thee.
Bid me to weep, and I will weep,
While I have eyes to see;
And having none, yet I will keep
A heart to weep for thee.
Bid me despair, and I'll despair,
Under that cypress tree;
Or bid me die, and I will dare
E'en death, to die for thee.
--Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
The very eyes of me;
And hast command of every part,
To live and die for thee.
Scheme | XAXA BABA CACA DADA EAEA FAFA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11110111 110011 11110111 010111 01110111 011101 10011111 111111 11110111 11101 11110101 0111111 11110111 111111 01011111 011111 11010101 101101 11110111 1111111 11111111 010111 010111001 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 697 |
Words | 155 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 88 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 64 Views
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"To anthea, who may command him any thing" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31425/to-anthea%2C-who-may-command-him-any-thing>.
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