Analysis of Time And Love

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



Time flies.  The swift hours hurry by
 And speed us on to untried ways;
New seasons ripen, perish, die,
 And yet love stays.
The old, old love – like sweet at first,
 At last like bitter wine –
I know not if it blest or curst,
 Thy life and mine.

Time flies.  In vain our prayers, our tears,
 We cannot tempt him to delays;
Down to the past he bears the years,
 And yet love stays.
Through changing task and varying dream
 We hear the same refrain,
As one can hear a plaintive theme
 Run through each strain.

Time flies.  He steals out pulsing youth,
 He robs us of our care-free days,
He takes away our trust and truth,
 And yet love stays.
O Time! take love!  When love is vain,
 When all its best joys die –
When only its regrets remain –
 Let love, too, fly.


Scheme abaBcdcd xbxBefef gbgBfafa
Poetic Form
Metre 110110101 01111011 11010101 0111 01111111 111101 11111111 1101 1101101101 11011101 11011101 0111 110101001 110101 11110101 1111 11111101 111110111 110110101 0111 11111111 111111 11010101 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 767
Words 150
Sentences 12
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 188
Words per stanza (avg) 51
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
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Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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