Question

How does the author’s use of stanzas affect the meaning of “A Thousand Martyrs”? Use evidence from the poem to support your response. Your response should be at least one complete paragraph.

Answer 1

We are presented with a libertine speaker talking of many lovers. He suggests that, though he has spoken about the pain of love, it is only ‘Love’s pleasures’ that he cares about. As such, he has ‘betrayed’ ‘a thousand beauties’. He claims to have been a callous and deceiving lover, telling ‘the fair’ about the ‘wounds and smart’ they long to hear of, then ‘laughing’ and leaving. The poem is written in three elegant septets. Notice the iambic tetrameter and consider how important form might be to the theme of this particular kind of love and betrayal.

This speaker may not be entirely honest. The final stanza begins with ‘Alone’. Is there any sense of regret here? The speaker claims to be ‘Without the hell’ of love, yet in the same line we find reference to the ‘heaven of joy’. He  may even also sacrificed his joy with his promiscuous love.