Analysis of The Last Memory

Arthur Symons 1865 (Milford Haven) – 1945



When I am old, and think of the old days,
And warm my hands before a little blaze,
Having forgotten love, hope, fear, desire,
I shall see, smiling out of the pale fire,
One face, mysterious and exquisite;
And I shall gaze, and ponder over it,
Wondering, was it Leonardo wrought
That stealthy ardency, where passionate thought
Burns inward, a revealing flame, and glows
To the last ecstasy, which is repose?
Was it Bronzino, whose Borghese eyes?
And, musing thus among my memories,
O unforgotten! you will come to seem,
As pictures do, remembered, some old dream.
And I shall think of you as something strange,
And beautiful, and full of helpless change,
Which I beheld and carried in my heart;
But you, I loved, will have become a part
Of the eternal mystery, and love
Like a dim pain; and I shall bend above
My little fire, and shiver, being cold,
When you are no more young, and I am old.


Scheme AABBCDEEFFGHIIJJKKLLMM
Poetic Form
Metre 1111011011 0111010101 10010111010 11110110110 1101000100 0111010101 100110101 110111001 1100010101 1011001101 111111 0101011100 1111111 1101010111 0111111101 0100011101 111010011 1111110101 1001010001 1011011101 11010010101 1111110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 877
Words 164
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 22
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 688
Words per stanza (avg) 162
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

49 sec read
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Arthur Symons

Arthur William Symons, was a British poet, critic and magazine editor. more…

All Arthur Symons poems | Arthur Symons Books

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