Analysis of Anonymous Plays: XVII

Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)



YE TOO, dim watchfires of some darkling hour,
Whose fame forlorn time saves not nor proclaims
For ever, but forgetfulness defames
And darkness and the shadow of death devour,
Lift up ye too your light, put forth your power,
Let the far twilight feel your soft small flames
And smile, albeit night name not even their names,
Ghost by ghost passing, flower blown down on flower:
That sweet-tongued shadow, like a star’s that passed
Singing, and light was from its darkness cast
To paint the face of Painting fair with praise:
And that wherein forefigured smiles the pure
Fraternal face of Wordsworth’s Elidure
Between two child-faced masks of merrier days


Scheme ABBAABBACCDEAD
Poetic Form
Metre 111111110 1101111101 110111 01000111010 11111111110 101111111 010101111011 111101011110 111110111 1001111101 1101110111 01011101 0101111 01111111001
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 652
Words 112
Sentences 1
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 527
Words per stanza (avg) 110
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
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Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as Poems and Ballads, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Swinburne wrote about many taboo topics, such as lesbianism, cannibalism, sado-masochism, and anti-theism. His poems have many common motifs, such as the ocean, time, and death. Several historical people are featured in his poems, such as Sappho ("Sapphics"), Anactoria ("Anactoria"), Jesus ("Hymn to Proserpine": Galilaee, La. "Galilean") and Catullus ("To Catullus"). more…

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