Analysis of Sonnet IV: Lovesight

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



When do I see thee most, beloved one?
When in the light the spirits of mine eyes
Before thy face, their altar, solemnize
The worship of that Love through thee made known?
Or when in the dusk hours, (we two alone,)
Close-kissed and eloquent of still replies
Thy twilight-hidden glimmering visage lies,
And my soul only sees thy soul its own?
O love, my love! if I no more should see
Thyself, nor on the earth the shadow of thee,
Nor image of thine eyes in any spring,—
How then should sound upon Life's darkening slope
The ground-whirl of the perished leaves of Hope,
The wind of Death's imperishable wing?


Scheme ABBCCBBCDDEFFE
Poetic Form
Metre 111111011 1001010111 01111101 0101111111 11001101101 1101001101 1110100101 0111011111 1111111111 111010111 1101110101 11110111001 0111010111 011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 602
Words 114
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 472
Words per stanza (avg) 110
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

34 sec read
182

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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