Analysis of On Stella's Birth-Day, 1719
Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)
Stella this Day is thirty four,
(We shan't dispute a Year or more)
However Stella, be not troubled,
Although thy Size and Years are doubled,
Since first I saw Thee at Sixteen
The brightest Virgin on the Green,
So little is thy Form declin'd
Made up so largely in thy Mind.
Oh, woud it please the Gods to split
Thy Beauty, Size, and Years, and Wit,
No Age could furnish out a Pair
Of Nymphs so graceful, Wise and fair
With half the Lustre of your Eyes,
With half your Wit, your Years and Size:
And then before it grew too late,
How should I beg of gentle Fate,
(That either Nymph might have her Swain,)
To split my Worship too in twain.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10111101 111010111 10101110 11101110 11111101 01010101 11011101 11110011 11110111 11010101 11110101 11110101 11010111 11111101 01011111 11111101 11011101 11110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 643 |
Words | 126 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 488 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 123 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 71 Views
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"On Stella's Birth-Day, 1719" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24297/on-stella%27s-birth-day%2C-1719>.
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