Analysis of Advice To An Old Man of Sixty Three About To Marry a Girle of Sixteen

Thomas Flatman 1635 (United Kingdom) – 1688



Now fie upon him! what is Man,
Whose life at best is but a span?
When to an inch it dwindles down,
Ice in his bones, snow on his Crown,
That he within his crazy brain,
Kind thoughts of Love should entertain,
That he, when Harvest comes should plow
And when 'tis time to reap, go sowe,
Who in imagination only strong,
Tho' twice a Child, can never twice grow young

Nature did those design for Fools,
That sue for work, yet have no tools.
What fellow feeling can there be
In such a strange disparity?
Old age mistakes the youthful breast,
Love dwels not there, but interest:
Alas Good Man! take thy repose,
Get ribband for thy thumbs, and toes,
Provide thee flannel, and a sheet of lead,
Think on thy Coffin, not thy bridal bed.


Scheme AABBCCXXXX DDEEXXFFGG
Poetic Form Etheree  (45%)
Metre 11011111 11111101 11111101 10111111 11011101 1111101 11110111 01111111 100010101 1101110111 10110111 11111111 11010111 01010100 11010101 1111110 01111101 1111101 0111000111 1111011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 768
Words 140
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 10, 10
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 280
Words per stanza (avg) 69
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
76

Thomas Flatman

Thomas Flatman was an English poet and miniature painter. There were several editions of his Poems and Songs. One of his self-portraits is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. A portrait of Charles II is in the Wallace Collection, London. His miniatures are noted for their vitality. He was the son of a clerk in Chancery and was born in Aldersgate Street and educated at Winchester College. He went on to study at New College, Oxford. He was later called to the bar in 1662 although he seems never to have practiced as a lawyer. He was a staunch Royalist and one of his poems was to celebrate the return of Charles II in 1660 after the collapse of the Cromwellian Commonwealth. Among his earliest verses are lines prefixed to Graphice by Sir William Sanderson, a work containing a description of the art of miniature painting, based on Edward Norgate’s writings. Flatman divided his career between writing poetry and painting portraits in miniature. A versatile man, he was made a Fellow of the newly founded Royal Society in 1668. A number of his friends were leading clergymen, and many of his sitters were drawn from the Church and other intellectual circles. more…

All Thomas Flatman poems | Thomas Flatman Books

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