Analysis of 'Tis said, that some have died for love

William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)



'Tis said, that some have died for love:
And here and there a churchyard grave is found
In the cold north's unhallowed ground,
Because the wretched man himself had slain,
His love was such a grievous pain.
And there is one whom I five years have known;
He dwells alone
Upon Helvellyn's side:
He loved--the pretty Barbara died;
And thus he makes his moan:
Three years had Barbara in her grave been laid
When thus his moan he made:

'Oh, move, thou Cottage, from behind that oak!
Or let the aged tree uprooted lie,
That in some other way yon smoke
May mount into the sky!
The clouds pass on; they from the heavens depart.
I look--the sky is empty space;
I know not what I trace;
But when I cease to look, my hand is on my heart.

'Oh! what a weight is in these shades! Ye leaves,
That murmur once so dear, when will it cease?
Your sound my heart of rest bereaves,
It robs my heart of peace.
Thou Thrush, that singest loud--and loud and free,
Into yon row of willows flit,
Upon that alder sit;
Or sing another song, or choose another tree.

'Roll back, sweet Rill! back to thy mountain-bounds,
And there for ever be thy waters chained!
For thou dost haunt the air with sounds
That cannot be sustained;
If still beneath that pine-tree's ragged bough
Headlong yon waterfall must come,
Oh let it then be dumb!
Be anything, sweet Rill, but that which thou art now.

'Thou Eglantine, so bright with sunny showers,
Proud as a rainbow spanning half the vale,
Thou one fair shrub, oh! shed thy flowers,
And stir not in the gale.
For thus to see thee nodding in the air,
To see thy arch thus stretch and bend,
Thus rise and thus descend,--
Disturbs me till the sight is more than I can dear.'

The Man who makes this feverish complaint
Is one of giant stature, who could dance
Equipped from head to foot in iron mail.
Ah gentle Love! if ever thought was thine
To store up kindred hours for me, thy face
Turn from me, gentle Love! nor let me walk
Within the sound of Emma's voice, nor know
Such happiness as I have known to-day.


Scheme XAABBCCDDCEE FGFGHIIH XJIJKLLK MNMNOPPO QRQRXSSX XXRXIXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 010101111 001111 0101010111 11110101 0111111111 1101 0111 110101001 011111 11110000111 111111 1111010111 110110101 10110111 110101 01111101001 11011101 111111 111111111111 1101101111 1101111111 1111111 111111 111110101 0111111 011101 110101110101 1111111101 0111011101 11110111 110101 1101111101 111011 111111 11011111111 1101111010 110110101 111111110 011001 1111110001 11111101 110101 011101111111 0111110001 1111010111 0111110101 1101110111 11110101111 1111011111 010111111 1100111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,018
Words 383
Sentences 22
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 12, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 52
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 258
Words per stanza (avg) 63
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 26, 2023

1:55 min read
136

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was the husband of Eva Bartok. more…

All William Wordsworth poems | William Wordsworth Books

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