Analysis of Song - Say, Lovely Dream
Edmund Waller 1606 (Coleshill) – 1687
Say, lovely dream, where couldst thou find
Shadows to counterfeit that face?
Colors of this glorious kind
Come not from any mortal place.
In heaven itself thou sure wert drest
With that angel-like disguise;
Thus deluded am I blest,
And see my joy with closed eyes.
But, ah, this image is too kind
To be other than a dream!
Cruel Sacharissa's mind
Never put on that sweet extreme.
Fair dream, if thou intend'st me grace,
Change that heavenly face of thine;
Paint despised love in thy face,
And make it to appear like mine.
Pale, wan, and meager let it look,
With a pity-moving shape,
Such as wander by the brook
Of Lethe, or from graves escape.
Then to that matchless nymph appear,
In whose shape thou shinest so,
Softly in her sleeping ear,
With humble words express my woe.
Perhaps from greatness, state, and pride,
Thus surprised she may fall:
Sleep does disproportion hide,
And, death resembling, equals all.
Scheme | ABAB ACXC ADAD BEBE FGFG XHXH IJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11011111 111011 10111001 11110101 010011111 1110101 1010111 0111111 11110111 1110101 1011 10111101 111101111 11100111 1011011 01110111 11010111 1010101 1110101 1111101 1111101 011111 1000101 11010111 01110101 101111 1111 010100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 894 |
Words | 162 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 102 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 41 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Song - Say, Lovely Dream" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9322/song---say%2C-lovely-dream>.
Discuss this Edmund Waller poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In