Analysis of A Letter To Dafnis April: 2d 1685

Anne Kingsmill Finch 1661 – 1720 (Westminster)



This to the Crown, and blessing of my life,
The much lov'd husband, of a happy wife.
To him, whose constant passion found the art
To win a stubborn, and ungratefull heart;
And to the World, by tend'rest proof discovers
They err, who say that husbands can't be lovers.
With such return of passion, as is due,
Daphnis I love, Daphnis my thoughts persue,
Daphnis, my hopes, my joys, are bounded all in you:
Ev'n I, for Daphnis, and my promise sake,
What I in women censure, undertake.
But this from love, not vanity, proceeds;
You know who writes; and I who 'tis that reads.
Judge not my passion, by my want of skill,
Many love well, though they express itt ill;
And I your censure cou'd with pleasure bear,
Wou'd you but soon return, and speak itt here.


Scheme AABBCCDCDEEFFGGHI
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010111 0111010101 1111010101 11010011 01011111010 11111101110 1101110111 101110111 101111110101 11111001101 110101010 1111110001 1111011111 1111011111 1011110111 0111011101 1111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 743
Words 141
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 571
Words per stanza (avg) 139
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

44 sec read
67

Anne Kingsmill Finch

Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (née Kingsmill), was an English poet and courtier. Finch's works often express a desire for respect as a female poet, lamenting her difficult position as a woman in the literary establishment and the court, while writing of "political ideology, religious orientation, and aesthetic sensibility". Her works also allude to other female authors of the time, such as Aphra Behn and Katherine Phillips. Through her commentary on the mental and spiritual equality of the genders and the importance of women fulfilling their potential as a moral duty to themselves and to society, she is regarded as one of the integral female poets of the Restoration Era. Finch died in Westminster in 1720 and was buried at her home at Eastwell, Kent.  more…

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