Analysis of To My Worthy Friend Mr. Peter Lilly: On That Excellent Pict
Richard Lovelace 1618 – 1657
See! what a clouded majesty, and eyes
Whose glory through their mist doth brighter rise!
See! what an humble bravery doth shine,
And griefe triumphant breaking through each line,
How it commands the face! so sweet a scorne
Never did HAPPY MISERY adorne!
So sacred a contempt, that others show
To this, (oth' height of all the wheele) below,
That mightiest monarchs by this shaded booke
May coppy out their proudest, richest looke.
Whilst the true eaglet this quick luster spies,
And by his SUN'S enlightens his owne eyes;
He cures his cares, his burthen feeles, then streight
Joyes that so lightly he can beare such weight;
Whilst either eithers passion doth borrow,
And both doe grieve the same victorious sorrow.
These, my best LILLY, with so bold a spirit
And soft a grace, as if thou didst inherit
For that time all their greatnesse, and didst draw
With those brave eyes your royal sitters saw.
Not as of old, when a rough hand did speake
A strong aspect, and a faire face, a weake;
When only a black beard cried villaine, and
By hieroglyphicks we could understand;
When chrystall typified in a white spot,
And the bright ruby was but one red blot;
Thou dost the things Orientally the same
Not only paintst its colour, but its flame:
Thou sorrow canst designe without a teare,
And with the man his very hope or feare;
So that th' amazed world shall henceforth finde
None but my LILLY ever drew a MINDE.
Scheme | AABBBBCCDD AAEECC FFGG DDXXHHIIXGEE |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101010001 1101111101 1111010011 0101010111 1101011101 101101001 1100011101 1111110101 1100111101 111110101 101111101 0111010111 111111111 1111011111 11011011 011101010010 11110111010 01011111010 111111011 1111110101 1111101111 011001101 110011110 111101 11100011 0011011111 1101101 110111111 110110101 0101110111 11110111111 1111010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,391 |
Words | 253 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 6, 4, 12 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 278 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 63 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 80 Views
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"To My Worthy Friend Mr. Peter Lilly: On That Excellent Pict" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30277/to-my-worthy-friend-mr.-peter-lilly%3A-on-that-excellent-pict>.
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