Analysis of Modern Love XXXIV: Madam Would Speak With Me
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
Madam would speak with me. So, now it comes:
The Deluge or else Fire! She's well, she thanks
My husbandship. Our chain on silence clanks.
Time leers between, above his twiddling thumbs.
Am I quite well? Most excellent in health!
The journals, too, I diligently peruse.
Vesuvius is expected to give news:
Niagara is no noisier. By stealth
Our eyes dart scrutinizing snakes. She's glad
I'm happy, says her quivering under-lip.
"And are not you?" "How can I be?" "Take ship!
For happiness is somewhere to be had."
"Nowhere for me!" Her voice is barely heard.
I am not melted, and make no pretence.
With commonplace I freeze her, tongue and sense.
Niagara or Vesuvius is deferred.
| Scheme | ABAACDDCEFFEGAHG |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1011111111 01011101111 111011101 1101011101 1111110001 01011100001 01001010111 0101110011 1011100111 11010100101 0111111111 110011111 111011101 111100111 110110101 01010100101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 669 |
| Words | 123 |
| Sentences | 21 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 16 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
| Words per line (avg) | 7 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 518 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 117 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
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