Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
A first-person speaker who asks the reader to listen and heed his warnings
Form and Meter
The poem is written in four stanzas of ten lines (each with a repeating chorus making up the final 4) with an AABCBCDDEE rhyme scheme. Each stanza features one line of pentameter, one of dimeter, and eight of trimeter.
Metaphors and Similes
Alliteration and Assonance
There is strong alliteration throughout the poem: "shows be spread" (line 1), "deep disdain" (4), "Faith fair" (6), "female franzy" (18, 18, 28), "sheet is shame" (14), "rightly read" (21), "mistress' marble" (24), "unmatched mind" (34), "counsel keepeth" (35), "due desert" (36).
Along with the short, rhyming lines, this alliteration contributes to the swift, galloping pace of the poem, giving it an upbeat feeling in spite of its gloomy images.
Irony
The final stanza asserts that Love is not actually dead. Considering that the speaker has lamented Love's death for the entire poem, this reveals that the prior statements about love's death are all overstatement, a form of verbal irony.
Genre
lyric poetry
Setting
Tone
self-pitying, over-the-top
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the unnamed main character who has lost love. The antagonist is his ex-mistress whose actions have killed Love itself.
Major Conflict
Climax
The climax of the poem is found in the final stanza, when the main character admits that love is not in fact dead.
Foreshadowing
Understatement
Allusions
The initial reference towards the ringing of the bells in the title and first verse lead the reader to connect the poem to the real concept of death and funerals, heightening the emotional connection.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The chorus features two instances of metonymy: first, the usage of "fancy" to refer to the whole concept of partnership, and second, the usage of the term "female frenzy" to refer to the female mistress' personality and actions.
Personification
The whole poem personifies Love as a character that has the ability to die. At first, it seems that Love is holy and pure, but as the poem progresses, his character becomes more complex.
Worth and Faith are also personified as victims of the mistress's disdain.
Hyperbole
While no line is strictly a hyperbole, the poem as a whole can be considered a hyperbolic account of the feelings one goes through after losing a lover.
