Analysis of Love Is Strong

Richard Francis Burton 1821 (Torquay) – 1890 (Trieste)



A VIEWLESS thing is the wind,  
 But its strength is mightier far  
Than a phalanxed host in battle line,  
 Than the limbs of a Samson are.  

And a viewless thing is Love,
 And a name that vanisheth;  
But her strength is the wind’s wild strength above,  
 For she conquers shame and Death.


Scheme XAXA BCBC
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 011101 11111001 10110101 10110101 001111 00111 1011011101 1110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 296
Words 54
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 4, 4
Lines Amount 8
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 108
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

16 sec read
108

Richard Francis Burton

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was an English geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, Egyptologist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian and African languages. Burton's best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights, bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton's works and letters extensively criticized colonial policies of the British Empire, to the detriment of his career. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices and ethnography. A characteristic feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and information. more…

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