Poetry

Poetry on PhotoPeach

The Constant Lover by Sir John Suckling










Suckling’s poem describes a man, who after only three days, is in love with a woman whom he had just met. He describes how she is so beautiful and has such a pretty face that without it, he would have several partners other than her. He says that time will tell that he truly loves this girl, and he will prove to be a ‘constant lover.’ The only repetition in the poem is the phrase “constant lover.” This represents the man trying to show that this thing he feels is not just a fluke. He is in it for the long haul. He has only known her three days, but he is trying to tell her that he knows. The rhyme scheme in this poem is a-b-c-b, and it has that pattern throughout, although not rhyming with the first stanza. Just the pattern of a line, another line, a line, and then a fourth line that rhymes with the second. The tone of this poem is excited. The man is not writing the poem to the lady he is love with, but rather just a poem describing his love with someone he knows. He has to tell someone. There is a metaphor about time and the molting of wings. This represents the time it takes to shed a bird’s wings. There is alliteration in line 7 describing the “whole wide world.” This is a form of hyperbole, as he says the whole world. Clearly this is an exaggeration. He claims he can discover the whole world while still remaining in love with this woman. The shift in the poem is at the end of the second stanza. This is where Suckling goes from talking about the time that he loves her and how long he will love her, to talking about how if she wasn’t pretty he would find other women.

Drew Harris is my Hero.

-B