Analysis of Modern Love XX: I Am Not of Those

George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)



I am not of those miserable males
Who sniff at vice and, daring not to snap,
Do therefore hope for heaven. I take the hap
Of all my deeds. The wind that fills my sails
Propels; but I am helmsman. Am I wrecked,
I know the devil has sufficient weight
To bear: I lay it not on him, or fate.
Besides, he's damned. That man I do suspect
A coward, who would burden the poor deuce
With what ensues from his own slipperiness.
I have just found a wanton-scented tress
In an old desk, dusty for lack of use.
Of days and nights it is demonstrative,
That, like some aged star, gleam luridly.
If for those times I must ask charity,
Have I not any charity to give?


Scheme ABBACDDCEAFEGHIG
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110001 1111010111 1111101101 1111011111 011111111 1101010101 1111111111 0111111101 0101110011 11011111 1111010101 0111101111 1101110100 1111111 1111111100 1111010011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 643
Words 130
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 499
Words per stanza (avg) 128
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
77

George Meredith

George Meredith was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. more…

All George Meredith poems | George Meredith Books

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