Analysis of Madam Gabrina, Or the Ill-favourd Choice
Henry King 1592 (Worminghall, Buckinghamshire) – 1669 (Chichester)
Con mala Muger el remedio
Mucha Tierra por el medio.
I have oft wondred why thou didst elect
Thy Mistress of a stuff none could affect,
That wore his eyes in the right place. A thing
Made up, when Natures powers lay slumbering.
One, where all pregnant imperfections met
To make her sexes scandal: Teeth of jet,
Hair dy'd in Orpment, from whose fretful hew
Canidia her highest Witch-crafts drew.
A lip most thin and pale, but such a mouth
Which like the Poles is stretched North and South.
A face so colour'd, and of such a form,
As might defiance bid unto a storm:
And the complexion of her sallow hide
Like a wrack't body washt up by the Tyde:
Eyes small: a nose so to her vizard glew'd
As if 'twould take a Planets altitude.
Last for her breath, 'tis somewhat like the smell
That does in Ember weeks on Fishstreet dwell;
Or as a man should fasting scent the Rose
Which in the savoury Bear-garden growes.
If a Fox cures the Paralyticall,
Had'st thou ten Palsies, she'd out-stink them all.
But I have found thy plot: sure thou did'st trie
To put thy self past hope of jealousie:
And whil'st unlearned fools the senses please,
Thou cur'st thy appetite by a disease;
As many use to kill an itch withall,
Quicksilver or some biting Minerall.
Dote upon handsome things each common man
With little study and less labour can;
But to make love to a Deformity,
Onely commends thy great ability,
Who from hard-favour'd objects draw'st content,
As Estriches from iron nutriment.
Well take her, and like mounted George, in bed
Boldly archieve thy Dragons Maiden-head:
Where (though scarce sleep) thou mayst rest confident
None dares beguile thee of thy punishment:
The sin were not more foul he should commit,
Then is that She with whom he acted it.
Yet take this comfort: when old age shall raze,
Or sickness ruine many a good face,
Thy choice cannot impair; no cunning curse
Can mend that night-peece, that is, make her worse.
Scheme | AA AABBAACCDDEEAAAAFFGGFXXGHHFFIIAAAAAAAAAAXXJJ |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111 10111100 111111101 1101011101 1111001101 11110101100 111100101 1101010111 110111101 1010111 0111011101 110111101 0111001101 1101011001 000101011 10111011101 110111011 111101010 1101111101 110101111 1101110101 10011101 101101 1111111111 11111111111 11111111 01110101 1111101001 110111111 11011101 1011011101 110100111 1111100100 101110100 1111101110 111101 1100110101 101110101 1111111100 1101111100 0101111101 1111111101 1111011111 110110011 1110011101 1111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,925 |
Words | 346 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 44 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 753 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 172 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:47 min read
- 84 Views
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"Madam Gabrina, Or the Ill-favourd Choice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17644/madam-gabrina%2C-or-the-ill-favourd-choice>.
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