Analysis of To A Lady
George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)
O! had my Fate been join'd with thine,
As once this pledge appear'd a token,
These follies had not, then, been mine,
For, then, my peace had not been broken.
To thee, these early faults I owe,
To thee, the wise and old reproving:
They know my sins, but do not know
'Twas thine to break the bonds of loving.
For once my soul, like thine, was pure,
And all its rising fires could smother;
But, now, thy vows no more endure,
Bestow'd by thee upon another.
Perhaps, his peace I could destroy,
And spoil the blisses that await him;
Yet let my Rival smile in joy,
For thy dear sake, I cannot hate him.
Ah! since thy angel form is gone,
My heart no more can rest with any;
But what it sought in thee alone,
Attempts, alas! to find in many.
Then, fare thee well, deceitful Maid!
'Twere vain and fruitless to regret thee;
Nor Hope, nor Memory yield their aid,
But Pride may teach me to forget thee.
Yet all this giddy waste of years,
This tiresome round of palling pleasures;
These varied loves, these matrons' fears,
These thoughtless strains to Passion's measures---
If thou wert mine, had all been hush'd:---
This cheek, now pale from early riot,
With Passion's hectic ne'er had flush'd,
But bloom'd in calm domestic quiet.
Yes, once the rural Scene was sweet,
For Nature seem'd to smile before thee;
And once my Breast abhorr'd deceit,---
For then it beat but to adore thee.
But, now, I seek for other joys---
To think, would drive my soul to madness;
In thoughtless throngs, and empty noise,
I conquer half my Bosom's sadness.
Yet, even in these, a thought will steal,
In spite of every vain endeavor;
And fiends might pity what I feel---
To know that thou art lost for ever.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH XIXI JIJI KLKL MNMN OIOI PQPQ RFRF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11111111 111101010 11011111 111111110 11110111 1101011 11111111 111101110 11111111 0111010110 11111101 011101010 01111101 01011011 11110101 111111011 11110111 111111110 11110101 010111010 11110101 110101011 111100111 111111011 11110111 110011110 11011101 11011110 11111111 111111010 1110111 110101010 11010111 110111011 01110101 111111011 11111101 111111110 01010101 11011110 110010111 0111001010 01110111 111111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,702 |
Words | 311 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:36 min read
- 117 Views
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"To A Lady" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15256/to-a-lady>.
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