Analysis of Two Duets

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch 1863 (Bodmin, Cornwall) – 1944 (Cornwall)



He.
Aglai-a! Aglai-a!
Sweet, awaken and be glad.

She.
Who is this that calls Aglaia?
Is it thou, my dearest lad?

He.
'Tis Arion, 'tis Arion,
Who calls thee from sleep-
From slumber who bids thee
To follow and number
His kids and his sheep.

She.
Nay, leave to entreat me!
If mother should spy on
Us twain, she would beat me.

He.
Then come, my love, come!
And hide with Arion
Where green woods are dumb!

She.
Ar-i-on! Ar-i-on!
Closer, list! I am afraid!

He.
Whisper, then, thy love Arion,
From thy window, lily maid.

She.
Yet Aglaia, yet Aglaia
Hath heard them debate
Of wooing repenting-
'Who trust to undoing,
Lament them too late.'

He.
Nay, nay, when I woo thee,
Thy mother might spy on
All harm I shall do thee.

She.
I come, then-I come!
To follow Arion
Where green woods be dumb.

Sparrow of Love, so sharp to peck,
Arrow of Love-I bare my neck
Down to the bosom. See, no fleck

Of blood! I have never a wound; I go
Forth to the greenwood. Yet, heigh-ho!
What 'neath my girdle flutters so?

'Tis not a bird, and yet hath wings,
'Tis not an arrow, yet it stings;
While in the wound it nests and sings-
Heigh-ho!

He.
Of Arion, of Arion
That wound thou shalt learn;
What nothings 'tis made of,
And soft pretty soothings
In shade of the fern.

She.
When maids have a mind to,
Man's word they rely on,
Old warning are blind to-
I come, then-I come
To walk with Arion
Where green woods are dumb!

He.
Dear my love, and O my love,
And O my love so lately!
Did we wander yonder grove
And sit awhile sedately?
For either you did there conclude
To do at length as I did,
Or passion's fashion's turn'd a prude,
And troth's an oath derided.

She.
Yea, my love-and nay, my love-
And ask me not to tell, love,
While I delay'd an idle day
What 'twixt us there befell, love.
Yet either I did sit beside
And do at length as you did,
Or my delight is lightly by
An idle lie deluded!


Scheme Axb Acb Adeaxe Aada AfdF Adg Adg Achiih Aada AFdf jjj kkk lllk Addmld AndnFdF Amaxaopop Ammxmxpxp
Poetic Form
Metre 1 1010 1010011 1 111111 1111101 1 1111 11111 110111 110010 11011 1 11111 110111 111111 1 11111 0111 11111 1 111111 1011101 1 101111 1110101 1 1111 11101 110010 111010 01111 1 111111 110111 111111 1 11111 1101 11111 10111111 10111111 11010111 1111100111 1101111 11110101 11010111 11110111 10011101 11 1 1111 11111 110111 01101 01101 1 111011 111011 110111 11111 1111 11111 1 1110111 0111110 1110101 0101010 11011101 1111111 1110101 0111010 1 1110111 0111111 11011101 1111011 11011101 0111111 11011101 1101010
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,796
Words 368
Sentences 47
Stanzas 17
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 6, 4, 4, 3, 3, 6, 4, 4, 3, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 9
Lines Amount 81
Letters per line (avg) 17
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 81
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:52 min read
99

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch was a Cornish writer who published using the pseudonym Q. more…

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