Analysis of LXXI The Choice, I

Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828 (London) – 1882 (Birchington-on-Sea)



Eat thou and drink; to-morrow thou shalt die.
         Surely the earth, that's wise being very old,
         Needs not our help. Then loose me, love, and hold
     Thy sultry hair up from my face; that I
     May pour for thee this golden wine, brim-high,
         Till round the glass thy fingers glow like gold.
         We'll drown all hours: thy song, while hours are toll'd,
     Shall leap, as fountains veil the changing sky.

Now kiss, and think that there are really those,
       My own high-bosom'd beauty, who increase
           Vain gold, vain lore, and yet might choose our way!
           Through many years they toil; then on a day
       They die not,--for their life was death,--but cease;
   And round their narrow lips the mould falls close.


Scheme ABBAABBA XCDDCX
Poetic Form
Metre 1101110111 10011110101 11101111101 1101111111 1111110111 1101110111 111101111011 1111010101 1101111101 111110101 11110111101 1101111101 1111111111 0111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 762
Words 125
Sentences 7
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 257
Words per stanza (avg) 61
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
119

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. more…

All Dante Gabriel Rossetti poems | Dante Gabriel Rossetti Books

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