Analysis of Mercy, my lady! One thing I ask you,
‘Mercy, my lady! One thing I ask you,
As God may bless you, answer me fairly:
When you are dead, and I – for it’s true
After you there can be no life for me –
What of Love, without our company?
For there’s such wisdom and worth in you
And I love so: after us, He’ll not be.’
‘Before God, Thibaut, I judge it true
No one’s death ever killed Love. I see
You mean perhaps to mock me too,
Since you don’t seem wasted much to me.
When we’re dead (Long may our lives be!)
I’m sure Love will suffer a pang or two,
But Love’s worth holds for eternity.’
‘Lady, you mustn’t merely imagine
But know in your heart I love you deeply.
That is why I have put on flesh again,
This joy makes me love myself more dearly:
For God never made a creature so lovely
As you, but it makes me fear that when
We die it will end all Love completely.’
‘Thibaut, silence! No one should begin
A discussion developed so foolishly.
It’s only your means of softening
My heart, when you’ve already beguiled me.
I don’t say I hate you, certainly,
But if Love’s fate’s left for me to sing,
He would still be served honourably.’
‘Lady God grant that you judge aright
And see the ills that you make me suffer:
Since I well know, that if die I might,
Whatever the judgement Love will wither,
If you, Lady, don’t keep him together,
In the place he has always occupied:
To your wisdom aspires no other.’
‘Thibaut, if Love is making you suffer,
For me, don’t regret it, if I love ever,
Mine is a heart that will fail you never.’
Scheme | ABABBAB ABABBAB XBCBBCB XBDBBDB EFEFFEF FFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011011111 1111110110 111101111 1011111111 1110110100 111100101 0111101111 01111111 111101111 11011111 111110111 101111011 1111100111 111110100 101110010 1101111110 1111111101 111111110 11101010110 111111111 1111111010 11011101 00100101100 110111100 1111010011 111111100 111111111 111111 10111111 0101111110 111111111 100101110 1110111010 00111110 1110010110 111110110 11101111110 1101111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,516 |
Words | 299 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 3 |
Lines Amount | 38 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 186 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:29 min read
- 88 Views
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"Mercy, my lady! One thing I ask you," Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35981/mercy%2C-my-lady%21-one-thing-i-ask-you%2C>.
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