Analysis of Sonnet XXXI

Edmund Spenser 1552 (London) – 1599 (London)



Ah why hath nature to so hard a hart,
giuen so goodly giftes of beauties grace?
whose pryde depraues each other better part,
and all those pretious ornaments deface.
Sith to all other beastes of bloody race,
a dreadfull countenaunce she giuen hath:
that with theyr terrour al the rest may chace,
and warne to shun the daunger of theyr wrath.
But my proud one doth worke the greater scath,
through sweet allurement of her louely hew:
that she the better may in bloody bath,
of such poore thralls her cruell hands embrew.
But did she know how ill these two accord,
such cruelty she would haue soone abhord.


Scheme ABABBCBCCDCEFA
Poetic Form ~Spenserian Sonnet 
Metre 1111011101 111011101 111110101 011110001 1111011101 011111 111110111 011101111 1111110101 1111011 1101010101 11110111 1111111101 11011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 599
Words 111
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 482
Words per stanza (avg) 109
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
46

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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