Analysis of To A Lost Love
Stephen Phillips 1864 (Somertown) – 1915
I cannot look upon thy grave,
Though there the rose is sweet:
Better to hear the long wave wash
These wastes about my feet!
Shall I take comfort? Dost thou live
A spirit, though afar,
With a deep hush about thee, like
The stillness round a star?
Oh, thou art cold! In that high sphere
Thou art a thing apart,
Losing in saner happiness
This madness of the heart.
And yet, at times, thou still shalt feel
A passing breath, a pain;
Disturb'd, as though a door in heaven
Had oped and closed again.
And thou shalt shiver, while the hymns,
The solemn hymns, shall cease;
A moment half remember me:
Then turn away to peace.
But oh, for evermore thy look,
Thy laugh, thy charm, thy tone,
Thy sweet and wayward earthliness,
Dear trivial things, are gone!
Therefore I look not on thy grave,
Though there the rose is sweet;
But rather hear the loud wave wash
These wastes about my feet.
Scheme | aBcB xdxd xefe xxxx xgxg xxfx aBcB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (71%) |
Metre | 11010111 110111 10110111 110111 11110111 010101 10110111 010101 11110111 110101 10010100 110101 01111111 010101 011101010 110101 01110101 010111 01010101 110111 1111011 111111 110101 1100111 1111111 110111 11010111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 866 |
Words | 169 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
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