Analysis of Keepe On Your Maske (Version for his Mistress)



Keepe on your maske and hide your eye
For in beholding you I dye.
Your fatall beauty Gorgon-like
Dead with astonishment doth strike.
Your piercing eyes that now I see
Are worse than Basilisks to me.
Shut from mine eyes those hills of snow,
Their melting vally do not shew:
Those azure paths lead to despaire,
O vex me not, forbear, forbear;
For while I thus in torments dwell
The sight of Heaven is worse than Hell.
In those faire cheeks two pits doe lye
To bury those slaine by your eye:
So this at length doth comfort me
That fairely buried I shall be:
My grave with Roses, Lillies, spread,
Methinks tis life for to be dead:
Come then and kill me with your eye,
For if you let me live I dye.
 When I perceive your lips againe
Recover those your eyes have slaine,
With kisses that (like balsome pure)
Deep wounds as soone as made doe cure,
Methinks tis sicknesse to be sound,
And there's no health to such a wound.
When in your bosome I behold
Two hills of snow yet never cold,
Which lovers, whom your beauty kills,
Revive by climing those your hills,
Methinks there's life in such a death
That gives a hope of sweeter breath:
Then since one death prevails not where
So many antidotes are nere,
And your bright eyes doe but in vaine
Kill those who live as fast as slaine;
That I no more such death survive
Your way's to bury me alive
In place unknown, and so that I
Being dead may live and living dye.


Scheme AABBCCDEFFGGAACCHHAADIFFJJKKLLMMFFDINNAA
Poetic Form Etheree  (33%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 11110111 10010111 1110101 11010011 11011111 111111 11111111 1101111 1101111 111111 1111011 011101111 01111111 11011111 11111101 1110111 1111011 1111111 11011111 11111111 1101111 01011111 1101111 11111111 111111 01111101 1011101 11111101 11011101 0111111 1110101 11011101 11110111 110111 01111101 11111111 11111101 11110101 01010111 101110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,371
Words 270
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 40
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,097
Words per stanza (avg) 268
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:21 min read
89

William Strode

William Strode (c. 1602 – 1645) was an English poet, Doctor of Divinity and Public Orator of Oxford University, one of the Worthies of Devon of John Prince (d.1723). more…

All William Strode poems | William Strode Books

0 fans

Discuss this William Strode poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Keepe On Your Maske (Version for his Mistress)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41658/keepe-on-your-maske-%28version-for-his-mistress%29>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    1
    day
    4
    hours
    7
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Published in 1954, "Fighting Terms" was the first collection of poems by which poet?
    A Philip Larkin
    B Sylvia Plath
    C Ted Hughes
    D Thom Gunn