Analysis of Sonnet VII: O Had She Not Been Fair

Samuel Daniel 1562 (Taunton) – 1619



O had she not been fair and thus unkind,
Then had no finger pointed at my lightness;
The world had never known what I do find,
And clouds obscure had shaded still her brightness.
Then had no censor's eye these lines survey'd,
Nor graver brows have judg'd my Muse so vain;
No sun my blush and error had bewray'd,
Nor yet the world had heard of such disdain.
Then had I walk'd with bold erected face;
No downcast look had signified my miss;
But my degraded hopes, with such disgrace
Did force me groan out griefs and utter this.
For, being full, should not I then have spoken,
My sense oppress'd had fail'd, and heart had broken.


Scheme ABABCDADEFEFGG
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110101 11110101110 0111011111 01011101010 111111101 1101111111 111101011 1101111101 1111110101 11111011 1101011101 1111110101 11011111110 11011101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 635
Words 119
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 487
Words per stanza (avg) 117
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
81

Samuel Daniel

Samuel Daniel was an English poet and historian. more…

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