Analysis of Like to the Clear in Highest Sphere
Thomas Lodge 1558 (London) – 1625 (Early autumn)
Like to the clear in highest sphere
Where all imperial glory shines,
Of selfsame colour is her hair,
Whether unfolded or in twines:
Heigh ho, fair Rosalind.
Her eyes are sapphires set in snow,
Refining heaven by every wink;
The gods do fear whenas they glow,
And I do tremble when I think:
Heigh ho, would she were mine.
Her cheeks are like the blushing cloud
That beautifies Aurora's face,
Or like the silver crimson shroud
That Ph{oe}bus' smiling looks doth grace:
Heigh ho, fair Rosalind.
Her lips are like two budded roses,
Whom ranks of lilies neighbour nigh,
Within which bounds she balm encloses,
Apt to entice a deity:
Heigh ho, would she were mine.
Her neck, like to a stately tower
Where Love himself imprison'd lies,
To watch for glances every hour
From her divine and sacred eyes:
Heigh ho, fair Rosalind.
Her paps are centres of delight,
Her paps are orbs of heavenly frame,
Where Nature moulds the dew of light,
To feed perfection with the same:
Heigh ho, would she were mine.
With orient pearl, with ruby red,
With marble white, with sapphire blue,
Her body every way is fed,
Yet soft in touch, and sweet in view:
Heigh ho, fair Rosalind.
Nature herself her shape admires,
The gods are wounded in her sight,
And Love forsakes his heavenly fires
And at her eyes his brand doth light:
Heigh ho, would she were mine.
Then muse not, Nymphs, though I bemoan
The absence of fair Rosalind,
Since for her fair there is fairer none,
Nor for her virtues so divine:
Heigh ho, fair Rosalind.
Heigh ho, my heart, would God that she were mine!
Scheme | xaxaBcdcdE fgfgBxxaxE hihiBjkjkE lmlmBxjxjE xbxeBe |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 110100101 111101 10010101 111100 011100101 0101011001 0111111 01110111 111101 01110101 1111 11010101 1111110111 111100 01111110 1111011 0111111 11010100 111101 011101010 11010101 1111010010 10010101 111100 01110101 011111001 11010111 11010101 111101 11011101 110111001 010100111 11010101 111100 10010101 01110001 011110010 01011111 111101 11111101 01011100 110111101 11010101 111100 1111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,507 |
Words | 280 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10, 6 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 241 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 02, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 72 Views
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"Like to the Clear in Highest Sphere" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36726/like-to-the-clear-in-highest-sphere>.
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