Analysis of My Lady
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz 1648 (San Miguel Nepantla) – 1695 (Mexico City)
(Español)
Perdite, señora, quiero
de mi silencio perdón,
si lo que ha sido atención
le hace parecer grosero.
Y no me podrás culpar
si hasta aquí mi proceder,
por ocuparse en querer,
se ha olvidado de explicar.
Que en mi amorosa pasión
no fue desuido, ni mengua,
quitar el uso a la lengua
por dárselo al corazón.
Ni de explicarme dejaba:
que, como la pasión mía
acá en el alma te vía,
acá en el alma te hablaba.
Y en esta idea notable
dichosamenta vivía,
porque en mi mano tenia
el fingirte favorable.
Con traza tan peregrina
vivió mi esperanza vana,
pues te pudo hacer humana
concibiéndote divina.
¡Oh, cuán loca llegué a verme
en tus dichosos amores,
que, aun fingidos, tus favroes
pudieron enloquecerme!
¡Oh, cómo, en tu sol hermoso
mi ardiente afecto encendido,
por cebarse en lo lucido,
olvidó lo peligroso!
Perdona, si atrevimiento
fue atreverme a tu ardor puro;
que no hay sagrado seguro
de culpas de pensamiento.
De esta manera engañaba
la loca esperanza mía,
y dentro de mí tenía
todo el bien que deseaba.
Mas ya tu precepto grave
rompe mi silencio mudo;
que él solamente ser pudo
de mi respeto la llave.
Y aunque el amar tu belleza
es delito sin disculpa
castígueseme la culpa
primero que la tibieza.
No quieras, pues, rigurosa,
que, estando ya declarada,
sea de veras desdichada
quien fue de burlas dichosa.
Si culpas mi desacato,
culpa también tu licencia;
que si es mala mi obediencia,
no fue justo tu mandato
Y si es culpable mi intento,
será mi afecto precito,
porque es amarte un delito
de que nunca me arrepiento.
Esto en mis afectos hallo,
y más, que explicar no sé;
mas tú, de lo que callé,
inferirás lo que callo.
My lady, I must implore
forgiveness for keeping still,
if what I meant as tribute
ran contrary to your will.
Please do not reproach me
if the course I have maintained
in the eagerness of my love
left my silence unexplained.
I love you with so much passion,
neither rudeness nor neglect
can explain why I tied my tongue,
yet left my heart unchecked.
The matter to me was simple:
love for you was so strong,
I could see you in my soul
and talk to you all day long.
With this idea in mind,
I lived in utter delight,
pretending my subterfuge
found favor in your sight.
In this strange, ingenious fashion,
I allowed the hope to be mine
that I still might see as human
what I really conceived as divine.
Oh, how mad I became
in my blissful love of you,
for even though feigned, your favor
made all my madness seem true!
How unwisely my ardent love,
which your glorious sun inflamed,
sought to feed upon your brightness,
though the risk of your fire was plain!
Forgive me if, thus emboldened,
I made bold with that sacred fire:
there's no sanctuary secure
when thought's transgressions conspire.
Thus it was I kept indulging
these foolhardy hopes of mine,
enjoying within myself
a happiness sublime.
But now, at your solemn bidding,
this silence I herewith suspend,
for your summons unlocks in me
a respect no time can end.
And, although loving your beauty
is a crime beyond repair,
rather the crime be chastised
than my fervor cease to dare.
With this confession in hand,
I pray, be less stern with me.
Do not condemn to distress
one who fancied bliss so free.
If you blame me for disrespect,
remember, you gave me leave;
thus, if obedience was wrong,
your commanding must be my reprieve.
Let my love be ever doomed
if guilty in its intent,
for loving you is a crime
of which I will never repent.
This much I descry in my feelings--
and more that I cannot explain;
but you, from what I've not said,
may infer what words won't contain.
Scheme | ABCCB BBBB CDDC EFFE AFCA CFFC GHHG HIIH IBBI EFFE JIIJ HXFH HIIH IKKI IIII AHAA BAIA GILI MIDI ADAD IIXI MNMN GXBB LIHO IBBB DNXG DIGI IBIB IGHB IPDP IIGI HOIO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11 11101 11111 1111111 0111 111111 110111 1111 11111 111111 11111 111011 111111 1111 11011110 111110110 11111011 1110010100 110 111101 111000 1111 11110 1111010 111 11110101 1111 11111 11 1111111 1111 1111010 111 111 1101101 11111 1111 110111 110110 111110 11111 11111 1111 11111 11111 1110111 1111 11110 1111 1111 1111 11101 11111 1111 101111 1111011 11101010 11110011 1111 11111 11111 11111 1111111 111111 11111 1101101 0101101 1111110 1100111 111011 1011101 00100111 111001 11111110 1010101 10111111 111101 01011110 111111 1111011 0111111 1101001 1101001 010110 110011 01101010 10101111 11111110 111001101 111101 0110111 11011110 1111011 10101101 11100101 11101110 101111011 01111010 111111010 1110001 11010010 11111010 110111 010011 010001 11111010 11011101 1110101 0011111 0110110 1010101 1001101 1110111 1101001 1111111 1101101 1110111 1111101 0101111 11010011 101011101 1111101 1100101 1101101 11111001 11110110 01111001 1111111 10111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 3,571 |
Words | 649 |
Sentences | 33 |
Stanzas | 32 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 129 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 86 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 3:16 min read
- 149 Views
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"My Lady" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35628/my-lady>.
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