Analysis of The Unequal Fetters

Anne Kingsmill Finch 1661 – 1720 (Westminster)



Cou'd we stop the time that's flying
Or recall itt when 'tis past
Put far off the day of Dying
Or make Youth for ever last
To Love wou'd then be worth our cost.

But since we must loose those Graces
Which at first your hearts have wonne
And you seek for in new Faces
When our Spring of Life is done
It wou'd but urdge our ruine on

Free as Nature's first intention
Was to make us, I'll be found
Nor by subtle Man's invention
Yeild to be in Fetters bound
By one that walks a freer round.

Mariage does but slightly tye Men
Whil'st close Pris'ners we remain
They the larger Slaves of Hymen
Still are begging Love again
At the full length of all their chain.


Scheme ABABX XCXCC CDCDD CCCCC
Poetic Form Etheree  (25%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 11101110 111111 11101110 1111101 111111101 11111110 1111111 01110110 11011111 11111011 11101010 1111111 11101010 1110101 11110101 1111011 111101 10101110 1110101 10111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 644
Words 131
Sentences 4
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 128
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 13, 2023

42 sec read
176

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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