Analysis of To Coelia

Charles Cotton 1630 (Alstonefield) – 1687



WHEN, Coelia, must my old day set,
   And my young morning rise
In beams of joy so bright as yet
   Ne'er bless'd a lover's eyes?
My state is more advanced than when
   I first attempted thee:
I sued to be a servant then,
   But now to be made free.

I've served my time faithful and true,
   Expecting to be placed
In happy freedom, as my due,
   To all the joys thou hast:
Ill husbandry in love is such
   A scandal to love's power,
We ought not to misspend so much
   As one poor short-lived hour.

Yet think not, sweet! I'm weary grown,
   That I pretend such haste;
Since none to surfeit e'er was known
   Before he had a taste:
My infant love could humbly wait
   When, young, it scarce knew how
To plead; but grown to man's estate,
   He is impatient now.


Scheme ABABCDCD EFEXGHGH IFIFJKJK
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111 011101 01111111 110101 11110111 110101 11110101 111111 11111001 010111 01010111 110111 11000111 0101110 11110111 1111110 11111101 110111 111101011 011101 11011101 111111 11111101 110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 768
Words 144
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 184
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
74

Charles Cotton

Charles Cotton was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from the French, for his contributions to The Compleat Angler, and for the influential The Compleat Gamester attributed to him. more…

All Charles Cotton poems | Charles Cotton Books

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