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

The author’s use of stanzas in “A Thousand Martyrs” divides the poem into distinct sections that allow the reader to follow the speaker’s train of thought. Each stanza contains a different idea, and together they form a coherent narrative of the speaker’s experiences with love and desire. The first stanza introduces the idea of sacrificing others for one’s own desires, while the second explains how the speaker has led many beauties astray. The third stanza reveals the speaker’s ability to control others’ hearts and thoughts. The fourth and fifth stanzas show how the speaker’s superficial expressions of love were well-received by others and how the speaker enjoyed the spoils of love without any real pain or suffering. Finally, the last stanza concludes the poem by dismissing those who “whine for love.” By breaking up the poem into separate stanzas, Behn allows the reader to see the speaker’s progression through different stages of love and desire and ultimately understand the speaker’s attitude towards love and those who seek it.

Answer 2

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.