Analysis of The Complaint Of A Lover
Anne Killigrew 1660 (London) – 1685 (London)
Seest thou younder craggy Rock,
Whose Head o'er-looks the swelling Main,
Where never Shepherd fed his Flock,
Or careful Peasant sow'd his Grain.
No wholesome Herb grows on the same,
Or Bird of Day will on it rest;
'Tis Barren as the Hopeless Flame,
That scortches my tormented Breast.
Deep underneath a Cave does lie,
Th' entrance hid with dismal Yew,
Where Phebus never shew'd his Eye,
Or cheerful Day yet pierced through.
In that dark Melancholy Cell,
(Retreate and Sollace to my Woe)
Love, sad Dispair, and I, do dwell,
The Springs from whence my Griefs do flow.
Treacherous Love that did appear,
(When he at first approach't my Heart)
Drest in a Garb far from severe,
Or threatning ought of future smart.
So Innocent those Charms then seem'd,
When Rosalinda first I spy'd,
Ah! Who would them have deadly deem'd?
But Flowers do often Serpents hide.
Beneath those sweets conceal'd lay,
To Love the cruel Foe, Disdain,
With which (alas) she does repay
My Constant and Deserving Pain.
When I in Tears have spent the Night,
With Sighs I usher in the Sun,
Who never saw a sadder sight,
In all the Courses he has run.
Sleep, which to others Ease does prove,
Comes unto me, alas, in vain:
For in my Dreams I am in Love,
And in them too she does Disdain.
Some times t'Amuse my Sorrow, I
Unto the hollow Rocks repair,
And loudly to the Eccho cry,
Ah! gentle Nimph come ease my Care.
Thou who, times past, a Lover wer't,
Ah! pity me, who now am so,
And by a sense of thine own smart,
Alleviate my Mighty Woe.
Come Flatter then, or Chide my Grief;
Catch my last Words, and call me Fool;
Or say, she Loves, for my Relief;
My Passion either sooth, or School.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KDKX LBLB MNMN XBXB EOEO DHJH PQPQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111101 111010101 11010111 11010111 11011101 11111111 11010101 111101 1010111 111011101 11010111 1101111 0111001 101111 11010111 01111111 10011101 111101111 10011101 1111101 11001111 10010111 11111101 110110101 0111011 11010101 11011101 11000101 11011101 11110001 11010101 01010111 11110111 11010101 10111101 00111101 111011101 10010101 0101011 11011111 11110101 11011111 01011111 0101101 11011111 11110111 11111101 11010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,674 |
Words | 306 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 110 Views
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"The Complaint Of A Lover" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3220/the-complaint-of-a-lover>.
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