Analysis of Jewels: A Young Man to a Merchant

Herbert Asquith 1881 – 1947



OLD Man, your pearls are not for us,
    Your rubies die too soon:
Have you the pearls of Sirius,
    Or opals of the moon?

I do not ask for other gems;
    Flashing with frost and fire
The sky's undying diadems
    Shall be my love's attire.

Emeralds, that into rubies melt
    Upon the brow of night,
I've taken from Orion's belt
    To make her girdle bright.

On high ways of the albatross
    I scale the purple air
For sapphires of the Southern Cross
    And wreath them in her hair

Her robe it is the morning sky,
    Her veil it is the West;
So robed, so veiled my love will fly.
    When I am gone to rest.

Yet all the rays of all the moons,
    The lights of all the skies
Are pale beside the dim lagoons
    Of those mysterious eyes.

Old Man, your pearls are not for us,
    Your rubies die too soon:
Have you the pearls of Sirius,
    Or opals of the moon


Scheme ABAB xcac dede xfxf ghgh ijij ABAB
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11111111 110111 110111 11101 11111101 1011010 010101 1111010 10101101 010111 11010101 110101 1111010 110101 110010101 011001 01110101 011101 11111111 111111 11011101 011101 11010101 1101001 11111111 110111 110111 11101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 847
Words 165
Sentences 7
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 89
Words per stanza (avg) 23
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
28

Herbert Asquith

The Hon. Herbert Asquith was an English poet, novelist and lawyer. more…

All Herbert Asquith poems | Herbert Asquith Books

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