Analysis of Song VI: Cherish Life that Abideth
William Morris 1834 (Walthamstow) – 1896 (London)
Love is enough: cherish life that abideth,
Lest ye die ere ye know him, and curse and misname him;
For who knows in what ruin of all hope he hideth,
On what wings of the terror of darkness he rideth?
And what is the joy of man's life that ye blame him
For his bliss grown a sword, and his rest grown a fire?
Ye who tremble for death, or the death of desire,
Pass about the cold winter-tide garden and ponder
On the rose in his glory amidst of June's fire,
On the languor of noontide that gathered the thunder,
On the morn and its freshness, the eve and its wonder:
Ye may make it no more--shall Spring come to awaken?
Live on, for Love liveth, and earth shall be shaken
By the wind of his wings on the triumphing morning,
When the dead, and their deeds that die not shall awaken,
And the world's tale shall sound in your trumpet of warning,
And the sun smite the banner called Scorn of the Scorning,
And dead pain ye shall trample, dead fruitless desire,
As ye wend to pluck out the new world from the fire.
Scheme | ABAABC CCCCCD DEDEECC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110110111 111111101011 111011011111 111101011011 011011111111 1111010111010 1110111011010 1010110110010 1010110011110 10111110010 1010110010110 1111111111010 11111011110 10111110110 1010111111010 0011110110110 001101011101 0111110110010 1111110111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 999 |
Words | 198 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 7 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 260 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 65 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 30 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Song VI: Cherish Life that Abideth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41141/song-vi%3A-cherish-life-that-abideth>.
Discuss this William Morris poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In