Analysis of Troilus And Cresida
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
NEXT morning Troilus began to clear
His eyes from sleep, at the first break of day,
And unto Pandarus, his own Brother dear,
For love of God, full piteously did say,
We must the Palace see of Cresida;
For since we yet may have no other feast,
Let us behold her Palace at the least!
And therewithal to cover his intent
A cause he found into the Town to go,
And they right forth to Cresid's Palace went;
But, Lord, this simple Troilus was woe,
Him thought his sorrowful heart would break in two;
For when he saw her doors fast bolted all,
Well nigh for sorrow down he 'gan to fall.
Therewith when this true Lover 'gan behold,
How shut was every window of the place,
Like frost he thought his heart was icy cold;
For which, with changed, pale, and deadly face,
Without word uttered, forth he 'gan to pace;
And on his purpose bent so fast to ride,
That no wight his continuance espied.
Then said he thus,--O Palace desolate!
O house of houses, once so richly dight!
O Palace empty and disconsolate!
Thou lamp of which extinguished is the light;
O Palace whilom day that now art night,
Thou ought'st to fall and I to die; since she
Is gone who held us both in sovereignty.
O, of all houses once the crowned boast!
Palace illumined with the sun of bliss;
O ring of which the ruby now is lost,
O cause of woe, that cause has been of bliss:
Yet, since I may no better, would I kiss
Thy cold doors; but I dare not for this rout;
Farewell, thou shrine of which the Saint is out.
Therewith he cast on Pandarus an eye,
With changed face, and piteous to behold;
And when he might his time aright espy,
Aye as he rode, to Pandarus he told
Both his new sorrow and his joys of old,
So piteously, and with so dead a hue,
That every wight might on his sorrow rue.
Forth from the spot he rideth up and down,
And everything to his rememberance
Came as he rode by places of the town
Where he had felt such perfect pleasure once.
Lo, yonder saw I mine own Lady dance,
And in that Temple she with her bright eyes,
My Lady dear, first bound me captive-wise.
And yonder with joy-smitten heart have I
Heard my own Cresid's laugh; and once at play
I yonder saw her eke full blissfully;
And yonder once she unto me 'gan say--
Now, my sweet Troilus, love me well, I pray!
And there so graciously did me behold,
That hers unto the death my heart I hold.
And at the corner of that self-same house
Heard I my most beloved Lady dear,
So womanly, with voice melodious
Singing so well, so goodly, and so clear,
That in my soul methinks I yet do hear
The blissful sound; and in that very place
My Lady first me took unto her grace.
O blissful God of Love! then thus he cried,
When I the process have in memory,
How thou hast wearied me on every side,
Men thence a book might make, a history;
What need to seek a conquest over me,
Since I am wholly at thy will? what joy
Hast thou thy own liege subjects to destroy?
Dread Lord! so fearful when provoked, thine ire
Well hast thou wreaked on me by pain and grief.
Now mercy, Lord! thou know'st well I desire
Thy grace above all pleasures first and chief;
And live and die I will in thy belief;
For which I ask for guerdon but one boon,
That Cresida again thou send me soon.
Constrain her heart as quickly to return,
As thou dost mine with longing her to see,
Then know I well that she would not sojourn.
Now, blissful Lord, so cruel do not be
Unto the blood of Troy, I pray of thee,
As Juno was unto the Theban blood,
From whence to Thebes came griefs in multitude.
And after this he to the gate did go,
Whence Cresid rode, as if in haste she was;
And up and down there went, and to and fro,
And to himself full oft he said, alas!
From hence my hope, and solace forth did pass.
O would the blissful God now for his joy,
I might her see again coming to Troy!
And up to yonder hill was I her guide;
Alas, and there I took of her my leave;
Yonder I saw her to her Father ride,
For very grief of which my heart shall cleave;--
And hither home I came when it was eve;
And here I dwell an outcast from all joy,
And shall, unless I see her soon in Troy.
And of himself did he imagine oft,
That he was blighted, pale, and waxen less
Than he was wont; and that in whispers soft
Men said, what may it be, can no one guess
Why Troilus hath all this heaviness?
All which he of himself conceited wholly
Out of his weakness and his melancholy.
Scheme | ABABBCC DEDEFGG HIHIIJB XBBKKLL XMXMMNN OHLHHFF PIPXXQQ OBLBBHH XAXAXII JLJLLRR XSXSSTT ULULLXX EXEVVRR JWJWWRR XXXXILL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11010111 1111101111 010111101 11111111 11010111 1111111101 1101010101 01110101 0111010111 011111101 11110111 11110011101 1111011101 1111011111 111110101 11110010101 1111111101 111110101 0111011111 0111011111 111101001 1111110100 1111011101 1101001 1111010101 110111111 11111011111 1111110100 111101011 1001010111 1111010111 1111111111 1111110111 1111111111 111110111 1111111 11101101 011111110 11111111 1111001111 11011101 11001111101 110111101 010111 1111110101 1111101101 1101111101 0011011011 1101111101 0101110111 111110111 1101011100 0101110111 111111111 0111001101 1010011111 0101011111 111101101 11110100 1011110011 101111111 0101001101 1101111001 1101111111 110110100 11110111001 1101110100 1111010101 1111011111 1111110101 1111010111 1111111101 110111111010 1101110101 0101110101 111111111 11011111 0101110101 1111110011 1111111110 1101110111 1001111111 110110011 111111010 0101110111 111110111 0101110101 0101111101 1111010111 1101011111 1101011011 0111011101 0101111011 1011010101 1101111111 0101111111 011111111 0101110101 0101110101 111101011 1111010101 1111111111 111111 11110101010 1111001100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 4,268 |
Words | 857 |
Sentences | 31 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 105 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 222 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 4:18 min read
- 42 Views
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"Troilus And Cresida" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42461/troilus-and-cresida>.
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