“The Scrutiny” Summary

“The Scrutiny” Themes

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  Faithfulness and Infidelity

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Scrutiny”

• Lines 1-5

  Why should you sweare I am forsworn,
  Since thine I vow’d to be?
  Lady it is already Morn,
  And ’twas last night I swore to thee
  That fond impossibility.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-10

  Have I not lov’d thee much and long,
  A tedious twelve houres space?
  I must all other Beauties wrong,
  And rob thee of a new imbrace;
  Could I still dote upon thy Face.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-15

  Not, but all joy in thy browne haire,
  By others may be found;
  But I must search the blank and faire
  Like skilfull Minerallist’s that sound
  For Treasure in un-plow’d-up ground.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 16-20

  Then, if when I have lov’d my round,
  Thou prov’st the pleasant she;
  With spoyles of meaner Beauties crown’d,
  I laden will returne to thee,
  Ev’n sated with Varietie.

  

  

  

  

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“The Scrutiny” Symbols

• 

  Morn

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“The Scrutiny” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Rhetorical Question

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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“The Scrutiny” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Sweare
• Forsworn
• Thine
• Vow'd
• Morn
• 'Twas
• Thee
• Fond
• Lov'd
• Tedious
• Imbrace
• Could
• Browne Haire
• Blank and Faire
• Minerallist
• Sound
• Un-Plow’d-Up Ground
• My Round
• Thou
• Prov'st
• Spoyles
• Meaner Beauties
• Crown'd
• Laden
• Ev'n
• Sated
• Varietie

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Scrutiny”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Scrutiny” Speaker

“The Scrutiny” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Scrutiny”

More “The Scrutiny” Resources

• External Resources

  • Richard Lovelace — A biography of Richard Lovelace from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

  • The Cavalier Poets — A history of the Cavalier Poets—a group that Lovelace helped to lead—from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

  • "The Scrutiny" Read Aloud — Jordan Harling recites Richard Lovelace's poem "The Scrutiny."

  • Choosing Sides in the English Civil War — An article from the BBC laying out how Englishmen chose sides during the English Civil War.

  • The English Civil War — An introduction to the English Civil War, with a discussion of the factors that lead to the war, and the factions on either side of it.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Richard Lovelace

  • To Althea, from Prison

  • To Lucasta, Going to the Wars