To a Lady asking him how long he would love her
It is not, Celia, in our powerTo say how long our love will last;It may be we within this hourMay lose those joys we now do taste;The Blessèd, that immortal be,From change in love are only free.
Then since we mortal lovers are,Ask not how long our love will last;But while it does, let us take careEach minute be with pleasure past:Were it not madness to denyTo live because we’re sure to die?
About this text
To a Lady asking him how long he would love her is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sir George Etherege, To a Lady asking him how long he would love her, in Poems (1635–1691), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-sir-george-etherege/to-a-lady-asking-him-how-long-he-would-love-her.html, id L16125.
Form and metre
To a Lady asking him how long he would love her is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 A-A-BB powerA · last · hourA · taste · beB · freeB
- 2 -A-ABB are · lastA · care · pastA · denyB · dieB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It is not, Celia, in our power | 9 | ···/˘·//˘ |
| To say how long our love will last; | 8 | ····/··· |
| It may be we within this hour | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| May lose those joys we now do taste; | 8 | ········ |
| The Blessèd, that immortal be, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| From change in love are only free. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then since we mortal lovers are, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Ask not how long our love will last; | 8 | ····/··· |
| But while it does, let us take care | 8 | ········ |
| Each minute be with pleasure past: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Were it not madness to deny | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To live because we’re sure to die? | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.