Analysis of Love In The Guise Of Friendship

Robert Burns 1759 (Alloway) – 1796 (Dumfries)



Talk not of love, it gives me pain,
For love has been my foe;
He bound me in an iron chain,
And plung'd me deep in woe.

But friendship's pure and lasting joys,
My heart was form'd to prove;
There, welcome win and wear the prize,
But never talk of love.

Your friendship much can make me blest,
O why that bliss destroy?
Why urge the only, one request
You know I will deny?

Your thought, if Love must harbour there,
Conceal it in that thought;
Nor cause me from my bosom tear
The very friend I sought.


Scheme ABAB XXXX CXCX DEDE
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 11111111 111111 11101101 011101 1110101 111111 11010101 110111 11011111 111101 11010101 111101 11111101 011011 11111101 010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 507
Words 100
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 95
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 03, 2023

30 sec read
244

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. more…

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