Poetry & Analysis
Repetition Poems From Drama
Inspirational PoemsFear No More the Heat o' the Sun
Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,
Nor the furious winter’s rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone and ta’en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
Fear no more the frown o’ the great;
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke;
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan:
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee and come to dust.
No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renownèd be thy grave!
Overview Short Summary
The poem speaks to the dead as if death has ended fear, labor, social pressure, and worldly pain.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Mortality: The repeated phrase “Fear no more” turns death into release.
- Peace: The poem tries to comfort by naming fears one by one.
Literary Device How Repetition Works
The repeated opening “Fear no more” acts as anaphora and gives the poem its calming, ritual-like structure.
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That hills and valleys, dale and field,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
There will we sit upon the rocks,
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
There will I make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
The shepherds’ swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
Overview Short Summary
A shepherd invites his beloved to share an ideal life of natural beauty and pleasure.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Persuasion: The repeated invitation keeps returning to the same romantic request.
- Idealized nature: The repeated promises create a dreamlike pastoral world.
Literary Device How Repetition Works
The poem repeats “Come live with me and be my love” and uses repeated future promises, making it useful for studying refrain and persuasive repetition.
The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields;
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Overview Short Summary
Raleigh’s speaker answers Marlowe’s shepherd by questioning whether youthful pleasure can last.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Time: Repeated conditional phrasing shows that love’s promises depend on impossible permanence.
- Reality versus ideal: The reply repeats the shepherd’s invitation but turns it into doubt.
Literary Device How Repetition Works
The repeated phrase “to live with thee and be thy love” connects this poem directly to Marlowe’s refrain while changing its meaning.
We Wear the Mask
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Overview Short Summary
Dunbar describes the painful difference between outward appearance and hidden suffering.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Hidden pain: The repeated mask becomes a symbol of forced public performance.
- Social pressure: The poem shows why people may hide sorrow from the world.
Literary Device How Repetition Works
The repeated line “We wear the mask” works as a refrain and emphasizes the central metaphor.
Sympathy
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting—
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!
Overview Short Summary
The poem uses the caged bird to express suffering, longing, and the desire for freedom.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Freedom: The repeated “I know” makes the speaker’s sympathy personal and certain.
- Pain: The bird’s repeated actions show the cost of confinement.
Literary Device How Repetition Works
The repeated openings “I know what,” “I know why,” and the repeated closing lines create a powerful refrain structure.
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