The Scrutiny
By Richard Lovelace
1618-1658
The Scrutiny
What do we understand from the title of the poem?
What might be under
scrutiny in this poem?
Why should you swear I am forsworn,
Since thine I vowed to be?
Lady, it is already morn,
And 'twas last night I swore to thee
That fond impossibility.
Have I not loved thee much and long,
A tedious twelve hours' space?
I must all other beauties wrong,
And rob thee of a new embrace,
Could I still dote upon thy face.
Not but all joy in thy brown hair
By others may be found;—
But I must search the black and fair,
Like skilful mineralists that sound
For treasure in unploughed-up ground.
Then if, when I have loved my round,
Thou prov'st the pleasant she,
With spoils of meaner beauties crowned
I laden will return to thee,
Ev'n sated with variety.
What might be under
scrutiny in this poem?
AO3: Context
1618-1657
Cavalier poet
Richard Lovelace
Lovelace was born into a wealthy, military family, the
eldest of eight children. His father was honoured by
King James I with a knighthood and Lovelace would
continue this tradition of loyalty to the crown.
At 16, he was appointed ‘Gentleman Wayter
Extraordinary’ to the King, an honourary position. He
studied at Oxford and achieved his degree at the age
of 18.
During the conflict between parliament and the King,
Lovelace was chosen by the royalists to go to the
House of Commons and demand the restoration of the
King’s absolute authority. He was imprisoned.
When released, he returned to the King’s service. He
spent time abroad then was imprisoned again; when
he was released, the King had been executed.
The last years of his life were spent in relative
obscurity, his fortune exhausted on behalf of the King.
He died in 1658 from causes unknown.
Cavalier Poets
• Supported the King, who in
return supported their arts –
most were courtiers and
their poetry was to be read
at court
• A cavalier was originally a
mounted soldier or knight
• The term was originally
applied to this group of
poets as an insult, suggesting
they were ‘roistering
gallants’ (boisterous wouldbe heroes) but it was
claimed by those who
supported Charles I
• This distinguished them from
the Roundheads who
supported parliament, who
were often Puritans
Lovelace the Cavalier
Lovelace was known as the very epitome of a Cavalier poet. He was
handsome, attractive and charming and this made him a very popular
addition to the court of King James I and Queen Henrietta.
“The most amiable and beautiful person that ever eye beheld; a person
also of innate modesty, virtue and courtly deportment, which made
him then, but especially after, when he retired to the great city, much
admired and adored by the female sex” – Anthony Wood,
contemporary.
Lovelace wrote poetry at college, to raise his reputation as a Cavalier,
and as a pastime during imprisonment and his time abroad. He wrote
over 200 poems.
While at college, he tried to portray himself more as a social
connoisseur than as a scholar, continuing his image of being a Cavalier.
He wrote to praise a friend or fellow poet, to give advice in grief or
love, to define a relationship, to articulate the precise amount of
attention a man owes a woman, to celebrate beauty, and to persuade
to love.
Metaphysical poets
• John Donne
• Andrew Marvell
Metaphysical Poetry:
• A conceit is used, bringing together
two vastly different ideas into a single
idea
• The theme is emphasised by fantastic
metaphors and hyperbole
• Sensuality is blended with philosophy;
passion with intellect
• The form is often an argument of some
sort
• There is often some reference to
religion
Cavalier Poets
• Richard Lovelace
Cavalier Poetry:
• Was not intended to reflect the times
of the age but to celebrate joy and
gratification, e.g. love, beauty,
drinking, honour and time
• The poems were written as light and
polished verse, usually as songs
• Most had classical or allegorical
references
• They were intended to promote the
crown or amuse the court
• They were often romantic, bordering
on erotic
Both types of poetry featured carpe diem but in different ways.
AO2: Language and Imagery
Why should you swear I am forsworn,
Since thine I vowed to be?
Lady, it is already morn,
And 'twas last night I swore to thee
That fond impossibility.
Notice the
movement of
time, here. The
speaker refers
to the past and
the present.
What has
changed?
What is the poet saying here?
Why is it significant that we see the personal pronoun ‘I’ three times here?
What tone is created by this and the rhetorical question?
What is the implication of the word ‘fond’?
Lady, it is already morn
‘Lady’ is a trochee. This subtly alters the stress of the line from the iambs used
elsewhere and – along with the caesura immediately after it – thus draws
attention to the word ‘lady’. Why might Lovelace have done this?
Hint: how might the term ‘lady’ be ironic here?
How does this add to our understanding of why the ‘vow’ might be seen as
‘impossible’ to the speaker?
Have I not loved thee much and long,
A tedious twelve hours' space?
Compare this time
frame to the use of
time to flatter in
‘Coy Mistress’.
What is the poet saying here?
What length of time does he consider ‘much and long’? How does the
alliteration of the next line add to this idea?
What is he
suggesting
she should
do whilst
he is gone?
How does
this link to
the focus
on ‘lady’ in
the
previous
verse?
What do
you make
of the verb
‘rob’, here?
I must all other beauties wrong,
And rob thee of a new embrace,
Could I still dote upon thy face.
What does the word ‘dote’
suggest about the speaker’s
feelings towards the woman?
The word ‘beauties’ to
refer to women
reinforces their
objectification by the
speaker.
‘All other’ suggests the
scale of his plans.
How does the verb
‘wrong’ add to our
understanding of the
speaker’s intentions?
This
reference
to ‘others’
continues
the idea in
the
previous
stanza
that she
will be
with other
men.
How does this add to ‘dote’ from the
last stanza?
Not but all joy in thy brown hair
By others may be found;—
But I must search the black and fair,
Like skilful mineralists that sound
For treasure in unploughed-up ground.
We now
move to the
speaker’s
immediate
future.
What does the word ‘must’ suggest
about the speaker’s feelings?
AO2 focus: the woman is reduced to her hair colour and other women are
referred to by theirs – the speaker is searching through different hair colours,
different women, until he finds their ‘treasure’. He will scrutinise these women.
Let’s examine this simile a little more…
What impact does this simile have on the
status of the speaker and of the women?
Like skilful mineralists that sound
For treasure in unploughed-up ground.
What does this metaphor suggest?
Hint: what might the ‘treasure’ be? Why are the
women considered ‘unploughed-up ground’?
AO4: what does the modern expression ‘playing
the field’ mean? Can this be linked to the ideas
in this stanza?
This image can
also link to
pastoral poetry in
which the female
body is a
landscape to be
enjoyed.
We now move to the speaker’s
more distant future…
Then if, when I have loved my round,
Thou prov'st the pleasant she,
With spoils of meaner beauties crowned
I laden will return to thee,
Ev'n sated with variety.
What is the poet saying here?
What is the significance of the conditional ‘if’?
What about ‘prov’st’?
A roundabout
course; a bit like a
‘grand tour’ such
as the one young
men took around
Europe as a rite of
passage.
The language of battle is used
here, positioning the speaker
as a victor and women as
conquests. Promiscuity is
here presented as an
acceptable form of male
leisure.
Ev'n sated with variety.
This final image is one of greed, gluttony and selfishness. He will return to
the woman when he has had enough of the ‘variety’ of other women, when
he is ‘sated’, and if she is proven to be the most ‘pleasant’ of them all.
Carpe Diem?
AO4: Who is ‘seizing the day’ here? How does this
compare with the poems of Donne and Marvell?
AO3: Remember that the
intended audience of this poem
was other male members of the
court. In Lovelace’s time this
poem would be set to music,
performed and received as a
song. It was not intended to be
read.
Does this affect the way we read
it?
Can we argue that it is meant to
be for entertainment only?
How does it tie in with the idea
of the heroic male Cavalier?
Would women of the time have
found it as shocking as a modern
audience?
AO2: Form / Structure
Why should you swear I am forsworn,
Since thine I vowed to be?
Lady, it is already morn,
And 'twas last night I swore to thee
That fond impossibility.
Have I not loved thee much and long,
A tedious twelve hours' space?
I must all other beauties wrong,
And rob thee of a new embrace,
Could I still dote upon thy face.
Not but all joy in thy brown hair
By others may be found;—
But I must search the black and fair,
Like skilful mineralists that sound
For treasure in unploughed-up ground.
Then if, when I have loved my round,
Thou prov'st the pleasant she,
With spoils of meaner beauties crowned
I laden will return to thee,
Ev'n sated with variety.
Can you identify
the rhyme
scheme?
A
B
A
B
A
Why should you swear I am forsworn,
Since thine I vowed to be?
Lady, it is already morn,
And 'twas last night I swore to thee
That fond impossibility.
A
B
A
B
A
Have I not loved thee much and long,
A tedious twelve hours' space?
I must all other beauties wrong,
And rob thee of a new embrace,
Could I still dote upon thy face.
A
B
A
B
A
Not but all joy in thy brown hair
By others may be found;—
But I must search the black and fair,
Like skilful mineralists that sound
For treasure in unploughed-up ground.
A
B
A
B
A
Then if, when I have loved my round,
Thou prov'st the pleasant she,
With spoils of meaner beauties crowned
I laden will return to thee,
Ev'n sated with variety.
A
B
A
B
A
Why should you swear I am forsworn,
Since thine I vowed to be?
Lady, it is already morn,
And 'twas last night I swore to thee
That fond impossibility.
The rhyme scheme is regular, adding to the impression of a lighthearted song.
Most, but not all, lines are written in iambic tetrameter. The poem is a
monologue – we do not hear the woman’s voice, only the (male) speaker’s.
This should remind us of Donne: like him, Lovelace is presenting an argument so,
like him, he uses a regular rhyme scheme and meter. Each stanza develops the
speaker’s argument. This gives it a sense of being calculated.
One interpretation of the changing meter is that it represents the speaker’s
search for the most ‘pleasant she’. Not all women are created equal.
What do you think?
AO4/5: Links and Interpretations
“Some readers might consider the poem to be spoken with the arch, knowing
tone of a seducer, who displays arrogance as he uses his powers of rhetoric to
argue his way out of commitment, cynically offering the possibility of a reunion to
clinch his case. Others might find ambiguity and suggest that the speaker does
love the addressee, but is being honest about his sexual needs”
“It is a rather nasty poem:
cruel, clever and somehow
lacking in real emotion.”
“This poem articulates the pose of the
careless Cavalier for whom love is
nothing more than a game.”
“The Scrutiny is little more
than a misogynistic fantasy
that privileges male desire
and objectified women.”
Do you agree?
Examine the view that Richard Lovelace presents
the speaker in this poem as having a selfish
attitude to love.
Think about:
• The characteristics of love
• The representation of the people involved
• The feelings of the speaker
• Any imagery or language used
• The way the structure and form reflects this
Use the AQA specimen commentary on this question to
help you plan and write an answer.
Fill in your CLIFS sheet for
this poem. Remember, this
will be a revision aid!