Analysis of Content and Rich

Robert Southwell 1561 (Horsham St Faith) – 1595



I dwell in Grace's court,
Enriched with Virtue's rights;
Faith guides my wit, Love leads my will,
Hope all my mind delights.

In lowly vales I mount
To pleasure's highest pitch;
My silly shroud true honour brings;
My poor estate is rich.

My conscience is my crown,
Contented thoughts my rest;
My heart is happy in itself;
My bliss is in my breast.

Enough, I reckon wealth;
That mean, the surest lot,
That lies too high for base contempt,
Too low for envy's shot.

My wishes are but few
All easy to fulfil;
I make the limits of my power
The bounds unto my will.

I fear no care for gold;
Well-doing is my wealth;
My mind to me an empire is,
While grace affordeth health.

I clip high-climbing thoughts,
The wings of swelling pride;
Their fall is worst that from the heigh
Of greatest honour slide.

Since sails of largest size
The storm doth soonest tear;
I bear so low and small a sail
As freeth me from fear.

I wrestle not with rage,
While fury's flame doth burn;
It is in vain to stop the stream
Until the tide doth turn.

But when the flame is out,
And ebbing wrath doth end,
I turn a late enraged foe
Into a quiet friend.

And, taught with often proof,
A temper'd calm I find
To be most solace to itself,
Best cure for angry mind.

Spare diet is my fare,
My clothes more fit than fine;
I know I feed and clothe a foe,
That pamper'd would repine.

I envy not their hap
Whom favour doth advance;
I take no pleasure in their pain
That have less happy chance.

To rise by others' fall
I deem a losing gain;
All states with others' ruin built,
To ruin run amain.

No change of fortune's calm
Can cast my comforts down;
When fortune smiles, I smile to think
How quickly she will frown.

And when, in froward mood,
She prov'd an angry foe;
Small gain I found to let her come, -
Less loss to let her go.


Scheme XABA XCXC DEFE GHXH XBXB XGXG XIXI XJXX XKXK XLML XNFN JXMD XOPO XPXD XDXD XMXM
Poetic Form Quatrain  (94%)
Metre 110101 01111 11111111 111101 010111 11101 1101111 110111 110111 010111 11110001 111011 011101 110101 11111101 11111 110111 11011 110101110 011011 111111 110111 111111001 1111 111101 011101 11111101 11011 111101 011101 11110101 11111 110111 11111 11011101 010111 110111 010111 1101011 010101 011101 010111 11110101 111101 110111 111111 11110101 11011 110111 11101 11110011 111101 111101 110101 11110101 11011 111101 111101 11011111 110111 01011 111101 11111101 111101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,734
Words 348
Sentences 17
Stanzas 16
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 64
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 86
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 06, 2023

1:47 min read
140

Robert Southwell

Robert Southwell, also Saint Robert Southwell, was an English Roman Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order. He was also a poet and clandestine missionary in post-Reformation England. After being arrested and tortured by Sir Richard Topcliffe, Southwell was tried and convicted of high treason for his links to the Holy See. On 21 February 1595, Southwell was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. In 1970, he was canonised by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. more…

All Robert Southwell poems | Robert Southwell Books

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