Analysis of A Man's Requirements

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)



Love me Sweet, with all thou art,
Feeling, thinking, seeing;
Love me in the lightest part,
Love me in full being.

Love me with thine open youth
In its frank surrender;
With the vowing of thy mouth,
With its silence tender.

Love me with thine azure eyes,
Made for earnest grantings;
Taking colour from the skies,
Can Heaven's truth be wanting?

Love me with their lids, that fall
Snow-like at first meeting;
Love me with thine heart, that all
Neighbours then see beating.

Love me with thine hand stretched out
Freely -- open-minded:
Love me with thy loitering foot, --
Hearing one behind it.

Love me with thy voice, that turns
Sudden faint above me;
Love me with thy blush that burns
When I murmur 'Love me!'

Love me with thy thinking soul,
Break it to love-sighing;
Love me with thy thoughts that roll
On through living -- dying.

Love me in thy gorgeous airs,
When the world has crowned thee;
Love me, kneeling at thy prayers,
With the angels round thee.

Love me pure, as muses do,
Up the woodlands shady:
Love me gaily, fast and true,
As a winsome lady.

Through all hopes that keep us brave,
Farther off or nigher,
Love me for the house and grave,
And for something higher.

Thus, if thou wilt prove me, Dear,
Woman's love no fable,
I will love thee -- half a year --
As a man is able.


Scheme ABAB XCXC DDDB EBEB XXXX FGFG HBHB IGIG JGJG KCKC LMLM
Poetic Form Quatrain  (82%)
Metre 1111111 101010 1100101 110110 1111101 011010 1010111 111010 1111101 11101 101101 1101110 1111111 111110 1111111 11110 1111111 101010 11111001 101011 1111111 101011 1111111 111011 1111101 111110 1111111 111010 1101101 101111 1110111 101011 1111101 10110 1110101 101010 1111111 10111 1110101 011010 1111111 101110 1111101 101110
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,326
Words 253
Sentences 12
Stanzas 11
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 44
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 89
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

1:16 min read
240

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. more…

All Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems | Elizabeth Barrett Browning Books

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