Analysis of Epilogue to Henry II.
John Dryden 1631 (Aldwincle) – 1631 (London)
Thus you the sad catastrophe have seen,
Occasioned by a mistress and a queen.
Queen Eleanor the proud was French, they say;
But English manufacture got the day.
Jane Clifford was her name, as books aver;
Fair Rosamond was but her nom de guerre.
Now tell me, gallants, would you lead your life
With such a mistress, or with such a wife?
If one must be your choice, which d' ye approve,
The curtain lecture, or the curtain love?
Would ye be godly with perpetual strife,
Still drudging on with homely Joan, your wife,
Or take your pleasure in a wicked way,
Like honest whoring Harry in the play?
I guess your minds; the mistress would be taking,
And nauseous matrimony sent a packing.
The devil's in you all; mankind's a rogue;
You love the bride, but you detest the clog.
After a year, poor spouse is left i' the lurch,
And you, like Haynes, return to mother-church.
Or, if the name of church comes cross your mind,
Chapels-of-ease behind our scenes you find.
The playhouse is a kind of market-place;
One chaffers for a voice, another for a face;
Nay, some of you,—I dare not say how many,—
Would buy of me a pen'worth for your penny.
E'en this poor face, which with my fan I hide,
Would make a shift my portion to provide,
With some small perquisites I have beside.
Though for your love, perhaps, I should not care,
I could not hate a man that bids me fair.
What might ensue, 'tis hard for me to tell;
But I was drenched to-day for loving well,
And fear the poison that would make me swell.
Scheme | AABBCDEEFGEEBBHHIJKKLLMMNNOOODDPPP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010011 0101010001 1100011111 110010101 1101011110 1100110111 111111111 1101011101 11111111101 0101010101 11110101001 111110111 1111000101 110110001 11110101110 0101001010 0100111101 1101110101 10011111101 0111011101 1101111111 1110110111 011011101 11101010101 11111111110 11110111110 11111111111 1101110101 1111001101 1111011111 1111011111 1101111111 1111111101 0101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,501 |
Words | 282 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 34 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,143 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 278 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:25 min read
- 75 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Epilogue to Henry II." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22656/epilogue-to-henry-ii.>.
Discuss this John Dryden 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