Analysis of Sonnet XLVIII

Edmund Spenser 1552 (London) – 1599 (London)



INnocent paper whom too cruell hand,
Did make the matter to auenge her yre:
and ere she could thy cause wel vnderstand,
did sacrifize vnto the greedy fyre.
Well worthy thou to haue found better hyre,
then so bad end for hereticks ordayned:
yet heresy nor treason didst conspire,
but plead thy maisters cause vniustly payned.
Whom all the carelesse of his griefe constrayned
to vtter forth th'anguish of his hart:
and would not heare, when he to her complayned,
the piteous passion of his dying smart.
Yet liue for euer, though against her will,
and speake her good, though she requite it ill.


Scheme ABABBABAACACDD
Poetic Form
Metre 100101111 110101101 01111111 1110101 1101111101 1111111 11001101010 1111111 11011111 1111110111 011111101 011011101 111110101 010111111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 587
Words 106
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 472
Words per stanza (avg) 104
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
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Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. more…

All Edmund Spenser poems | Edmund Spenser Books

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