Analysis of To An Inconstant Mistress
Sir Robert Aytoun 1570 – 1638
I loved thee once, I'll love no more,
Thine be the grief as is the blame,
Thou art not what thou wast before,
What reason I should be the same?
He that can love unloved again
Hath better store of love than brain;
God send me love my debts to pay,
While unthrifts fool their love away.
Nothing could have my love o'erthrown,
If thou hadst still continued mine;
Nay, if thou hadst remained thine own,
I might perchance have yet been thine.
But thou thy freedom did recall,
That it thou might elsewhere enthrall,
And then how could I but disdain
A captive's captive to remain?
When new desires had conquered thee,
And changed the object of thy will,
It had been lethargy in me,
Not constancy, to love thee still;
Yea, it had been a sin to go
And prostitute affection so,
Since we are taught no prayers to say
To such as must to others pray.
Yet do thou glory in thy choice,
Thy choice of his good fortune boast;
I'll neither grieve, nor yet rejoice
To see him gain what I have lost.
The height of my disdain shall be
To laugh at him, to blush for thee;
To love thee still, but go no more
A-begging at a beggar's door.
Scheme | ABABCCDD CEXEFFCC GHGHIIDD JXJXGGAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 11011101 11111101 11011101 11110101 11011111 11111111 1111101 1011111 11110101 11110111 11011111 1111011 111111 01111101 0110101 110101101 01010111 11110001 11001111 11110111 0100101 11111111 11111101 11110011 11111101 11011101 11111111 01110111 11111111 11111111 0101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,146 |
Words | 217 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 216 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 75 Views
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