Analysis of Sigh On, Sad Heart, for Love's Eclipse



Sigh on, sad heart, for Love's eclipse
And Beauty's fairest queen,
Though 'tis not for my peasant lips
To soil her name between:
A king might lay his sceptre down,
But I am poor and nought,
The brow should wear a golden crown
That wears her in its thought.
The diamonds glancing in her hair,
Whose sudden beams surprise,
Might bid such humble hopes beware
The glancing of her eyes;
Yet looking once, I look'd too long,
And if my love is sin,
Death follows on the heels of wrong,
And kills the crime within.
Her dress seem'd wove of lily leaves,
It was so pure and fine,
O lofty wears, and lowly weaves,—
But hodden-gray is mine;
And homely hose must step apart,
Where garter'd princes stand,
But may he wear my love at heart
That wins her lily hand!
Alas! there's far from russet frieze
To silks and satin gowns,
But I doubt if God made like degrees
In courtly hearts and clowns.
My father wrong'd a maiden's mirth,
And brought her cheeks to blame,
And all that's lordly of my birth
Is my reproach and shame!
'Tis vain to weep,—'tis vain to sigh,
'Tis vain, this idle speech,
For where her happy pearls do lie,
My tears may never reach;
Yet when I'm gone, e'en lofty pride
May say, of what has been,
His love was nobly born and died,
Though all the rest was mean!
My speech is rude,—but speech is weak
Such love as mine to tell,
Yet had I words, I dare not speak,
So, Lady, fare thee well;
I will not wish thy better state
Was one of low degree,
But I must weep that partial fate
Made such a churl of me.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJDDDDKLKLMNMNOPOPDHDBQRQRDSDS
Poetic Form
Metre 11111101 01101 11111101 110101 01111101 111101 01110101 110011 01010001 110101 11110101 010101 11011111 011111 11010111 010101 01111101 111101 11010101 11111 01011101 11101 11111111 110101 01111101 110101 111111101 010101 1101011 010111 0111111 110101 11111111 111101 11010111 111101 111111101 111111 11110101 110111 11111111 111111 11111111 110111 11111101 111101 11111101 110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,518
Words 295
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 48
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,147
Words per stanza (avg) 290
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

1:32 min read
123

Thomas Hood

Thomas Hood was a British humorist and poet. His son, Tom Hood, became a well known playwright and editor. more…

All Thomas Hood poems | Thomas Hood Books

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