The Scrutiny

• “Have I not loved thee much and long, a tedious twelve hours space?“

  • alliteration of “loved“ and “long” slows down the pace - suggests he is bored of the conversation
  • “tedious“ means boring and tiring, which insults the woman and shows how he only cares about sex - she is no longer a virgin
• “But I must search the black and fair like skilful mineralists that sound for treasure in un-plowed-up ground.”

  • “black and fair“ suggests he is going to have sex with every virgin
  • “un-plowed-up ground” suggests the speaker’s preference for virgins (typical of the time)
• “If when I have loved my round … I laden will return to thee.”

  • “my round” - sports-like imagery, which suggests that this is a game to him rather than love
  • “laden” means to be weighed down suggesting he would be returning to her reluctantly OR that the he has earned a ‘medal’ for each woman
  • implying she must prove herself to him
• Written in 1640s
• Aimed at men seeking to ‘play the field’
• Richard Lovelace was a royalist, a cavalier poet and was imprisoned for his beliefs and allegiances to the monarchy during the Civil War.
• Synopsis - A woman has made an accusation of the speaker being unfaithful and he argues that he has loved her a long time but cannot deny other women of his attention but if he finds her the best out of all of the women then he shall return to her.
• There is no voice for the female, suggesting that she is inferior to him
• The short line reveal the speaker’s impatience with the topic
• It is a dramatic monologue
• It was meant to be performed as a song which is why it is entertaining and humorous
• FORM

  It has an ABABB rhyme scheme which is extremely regular. But, the poem does not follow a set / inherited form e.g. sonnet. This is perhaps reflecting the cavaliers’ rebellious attitudes.
• THEMES

  • virginity and purity
  • lust and sexual desire
  • infidelity and faithfulness
• LINKS TO GATSBY

  • Tom is promiscuous like the speaker
  • The speaker has a desire for physical features like Tom does of Myrtle
  • Tom and Daisy return to each other despite the atrocities within their marriage
• CRITIC (AO5)

  ”It is a rather nasty poem: cruel, clever and somehow lacking in real emotion.”

  • he insults their time spent together
  • he is cruel in revealing his preference for virgins
• CRITIC (AO5)

  ”This poem articulates the pose of the careless Cavalier for whom love is nothing more than a game.”