Analysis of As I’ve no hope of returning ever
Guido Cavalcanti 1255 (Florence) – 1300 (Florence)
As I’ve no hope of returning ever,
Little ballad, lightly, softly,
Go yourself, to Tuscany,
Go straight to my lady,
Who of her great courtesy
Will show you highest honour.
You will bring her news of sighs,
Filled with pain, and great with fear:
But take care to meet no eyes
Hostile to a gentle nature:
My disadvantage then for sure
You’d work, like one opposed,
And be by her reproved,
And so prove pain for me:
So that after my death there’d be,
Weeping and fresh dolour.
Little ballad, you know that death
Grips me so that life deserts me,
Know how my heart with every breath
Beats hard, as the spirits speak inside me.
So much of my Being’s now undone,
I can scarcely suffer longer:
So if you would serve me further,
Take my soul along with you,
Fervently I beg of you,
As it leaps from out my heart, here.
O, little ballad, now I yield
This trembling soul to your friendship,
In its sorrow, take it with you,
To the sweet one to whom I send it.
Oh, little ballad, sighing say
To her, when you’re presented:
‘Your servant comes
To be with you,
He leaves one,
Who was Love’s servant’
You, little weak and fearful voice
Issuing from the sad heart weeping,
Go with my soul, and this little song,
And tell her of my mind that’s ruined.
You’ll find a tender woman there,
Of an intellect so sweet,
That it will be delight complete
For you to leave her never.
And then, my soul, adore her,
Worthy as she is, for ever.
Scheme | ABBBBA CXCAXDDBBA EBEBFAAGGX XXGXXXXGFX XXXXXHHAAA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101010 10101010 1011100 111110 1101100 111101 1110111 1110111 1111111 10101010 1010111 111101 01101 011111 11101111 10011 10101111 11111101 111111001 1110101011 111110101 11101010 11111110 1110111 1001111 11111111 11010111 110011110 01101111 101111111 11010101 1011010 1101 1111 111 11110 11010101 100101110 111101101 010111110 11010101 111011 11110101 1111010 0111010 10111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,397 |
Words | 271 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 216 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 50 Views
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"As I’ve no hope of returning ever" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42985/as-i%E2%80%99ve-no-hope-of-returning-ever>.
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