Analysis of Iambicum Trimetrum

Edmund Spenser 1552 (London) – 1599 (London)



Unhappy verse, the witness of my unhappy state,
Make thy self flutt'ring wings of thy fast flying
Thought, and fly forth unto my love, wheresoever she be:
Whether lying restless in heavy bed, or else
Sitting so cheerless at the cheerful board, or else
Playing alone careless on her heavenly virginals.
If in bed, tell her, that my eyes can take no rest:
If at board, tell her, that my mouth can eat no meat:
If at her virginals, tell her, I can hear no mirth.
Asked why? say: waking love suffereth no sleep:
Say that raging love doth appal the weak stomach:
Say, that lamenting love marreth the musical.
Tell her, that her pleasures were wont to lull me asleep:
Tell her, that her beauty was wont to feed mine eyes:
Tell her, that her sweet tongue was wont to make me mirth.
Now do I nightly waste, wanting my kindly rest:
Now do I daily starve, wanting my lively food:
Now do I always die, wanting thy timely mirth.
And if I waste, who will bewail my heavy chance?
And if I starve, who will record my cursed end?
And if I die, who will say: "This was Immerito"?


Scheme ABCDDDEFGHIJHKGELGMNA
Poetic Form
Metre 0101010110101 1111111110 10111011111 101010010111 10111010111 100110101001 101101111111 111101111111 11011011111 111101111 11101110110 11010110100 1010100111101 101010111111 101011111111 111101101101 111101101101 11111101101 01111111101 01111101111 0111111111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,050
Words 203
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 21
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 39
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 817
Words per stanza (avg) 201
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:01 min read
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Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. more…

All Edmund Spenser poems | Edmund Spenser Books

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