Analysis of My Divine Lysis
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz 1648 (San Miguel Nepantla) – 1695 (Mexico City)
Divina Lysi mía:
perdona si me atrevo
a llamarte así, cuando
aun de ser tuya el nombre no merezco.
A esto, no osadía
es llamarte así, puesto
que a ti te sobran rayos,
si en mí pudiera haber atrevimientos.
Error es de la lengua,
que lo que dice imperio
del dueño, en el dominio,
parezcan posesiones en el siervo.
Mi rey, dice el vasallo;
mi cárcel, dice el preso;
y el más humilde esclavo,
sin agraviarlo, llama suyo al dueño.
Así, cuando yo mía
te llamo, no pretendo
que juzguen que eres mía,
sino sólo que yo ser tuya quiero.
Yo te vi; pero basta:
que a publicar incendios
basta apuntar la causa,
sin añadir la culpa del efecto.
Que mirarte tan alta,
no impide a mi denuedo;
que no hay deidad segura
al altivo volar del pensamiento.
Y aunque otras más merezcan,
en distancia del cielo
lo mismo dista el valle
más humilde que el monte más soberbio,
En fin, yo de adorarte
el delito confieso;
si quieres castigarme,
este mismo castigo será premio.
(English)
My divine Lysis:
do forgive my daring,
if so I address you,
unworthy though I am to be known as yours.
I cannot think it bold
to call you so, well knowing
you've ample thunderbolts
to shatter any overweening of mine.
It's the tongue that misspeaks
when what is called dominion--
I mean, the master's rule--
is made to seem possession by the slave.
The vassal says: my king;
my prison, the convict says;
and any humble slave
will call the master his without offense.
Thus, when I call you mine,
it's not that I expect
you'll be considered such--
only that I hope I may be yours.
I saw you-need more be said?
To broadcast a fire,
telling the cause suffices--
no need to apportion blame for the effect.
Seeing you so exalted
does not prevent my daring;
no god is ever secure
against the lofty flight of human thought.
There are women more deserving,
yet in distance from heaven
the humblest of valleys
seems no farther than the highest peak.
In sum, I must admit
to the crime of adoring you;
should you wish to punish me,
the very punishment will be reward.
Scheme | ABCD ACEE DFGB HEBX ACAF AEEC ACAC GHHX CEII XXDJK CDEG EGHB DXBX GCXK CFXC CDFC DGXD CJIC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110 1111 0111 11111111 01110 1111 1011110 1111101 101111 11111 111111 11111 11111 111111 111111 11101111 11110 1111 111110 101111111 1111010 1011 10111 1011101010 11110 11011 1111010 11111 111111 1111 11111 1111110111 11111 111 111 11111 10 10110 101110 11111 01011111111 110111 1111110 1101 11010111 10111 1111010 110101 1111010101 010111 1100101 010101 1101010101 111111 111101 110101 101111111 1111111 11010 1001010 11101011001 1011010 1101110 1111001 0101011101 11101010 1010110 0100110 111010101 011101 10110101 1111101 0101001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,020 |
Words | 374 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 73 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 86 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 101 Views
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"My Divine Lysis" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35627/my-divine-lysis>.
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