Analysis of Song #5
John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)
I would not feign a single sigh
Nor weep a single tear for thee:
The soul within these orbs burns dry;
A desert spreads where love should be.
I would not be a worm to crawl
A writhing suppliant in thy way;
For love is life, is heaven, and all
The beams of an immortal day.
For sighs are idle things and vain,
And tears for idiots vainly fall.
I would not kiss thy face again
Nor round thy shining slippers crawl.
Love is the honey, not the bee,
Nor would I turn its sweets to gall
For all the beauty found in thee,
Thy lily neck, rose cheek, and all.
I would not feign a single tale
Thy kindness or thy love to seek;
Nor sigh for Jenny of the Vale,
Her ruby smile or rosy cheek.
I would not have a pain to own
For those dark curls and those bright eyes
A frowning lip, a heart of stone,
False love and folly I despise.
Scheme | ABABCDCD XCXCBCBC EFEFGHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 11010111 01011111 01011111 11110111 0101011 111111001 01110101 11110101 011100101 11111101 11110101 11010101 11111111 11010101 11011101 11110101 11011111 11110101 01011101 11110111 11110111 01010111 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 803 |
Words | 169 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 210 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 32 Views
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