Analysis of Monna Innominata [I loved you first]

Christina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



I loved you first: but afterwards your love,
Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song
As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.
Which owes the other most? My love was long,
And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;
I loved and guessed at you, you contrued me
And loved me for what might or might not be—
Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.
For verily love knows not 'mine' or 'thine';
With separate 'I' and 'thou' free love has done,
For one is both and both are one in love:
Rich love knows nought of 'thine that is not mine';
Both have the strength and both the length thereof,
Both of us, of the love which makes us one.


Scheme ABABBCCBDEADAE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110011 111101001 110101111 1101011111 0111011111 110111111 0111111111 1101011101 11111111 1101011111 1111011101 1111111111 110101011 1111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 631
Words 125
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 490
Words per stanza (avg) 125
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Submitted by naama on July 15, 2020

Modified on April 29, 2023

37 sec read
31

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. more…

All Christina Rossetti poems | Christina Rossetti Books

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    "Monna Innominata [I loved you first]" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54245/monna-innominata-%5Bi-loved-you-first%5D>.

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