Analysis of Sonnets LLXXI:LXXII:LXXIII: The Choice
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828 (London) – 1882 (Birchington-on-Sea)
I
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-bosomed 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.
II
Watch thou and fear; to-morrow thou shalt die.
Or art thou sure thou shalt have time for death?
Is not the day which God's word promiseth
To come man knows not when? In yonder sky,
Now while we speak, the sun speeds forth: can I
Or thou assure him of his goal? God's breath
Even at this moment haply quickeneth
The air to a flame; till spirits, always nigh
Though screened and hid, shall walk the daylight here.
And dost thou prate of all that man shall do?
Canst thou, who hast but plagues, presume to be
Glad in his gladness that comes after thee?
Will his strength slay thy worm in Hell? Go to:
Cover thy countenance, and watch, and fear.
III
Think thou and act; to-morrow thou shalt die.
Outstretched in the sun's warmth upon the shore,
Thou say'st: “Man's measured path is all gone o'er:
Up all his years, steeply, with strain and sigh,
Man clomb until he touched the truth; and I,
Even I, am he whom it was destined for.”
How should this be? Art thou then so much more
Than they who sowed, that thou shouldst reap thereby?
Nay, come up hither. From this wave-washed mound
Unto the furthest flood-brim look with me;
Then reach on with thy thought till it be drown'd.
Miles and miles distant though the last line be,
And though thy soul sail leagues and leagues beyond,—
Still, leagues beyond those leagues, there is more sea.
Scheme | AABBAABBAXCDDCX AAEEAAEEAXFGGFX AAHXAAHHAIGIGXG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (22%) |
Metre | 1 1101110111 10011110101 11101111101 1101111111 1111110111 1101110111 111101111011 1111010101 1101111101 111110101 11110111101 1101111101 1111111111 0111010111 1 1101110111 1111111111 11011111 1111110101 1111011111 1101111111 10111011 0110111011 110111011 0111111111 1111110111 101111101 1111110111 1011000101 1 1101110111 0100110101 111110111110 1111101101 1101110101 10111111101 1111111111 1111111111 1111011111 1001011111 1111111111 1011010111 0111110101 1101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,980 |
Words | 375 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 15, 15, 15 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 515 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 123 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:55 min read
- 114 Views
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"Sonnets LLXXI:LXXII:LXXIII: The Choice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7705/sonnets-llxxi%3Alxxii%3Alxxiii%3A--the-choice>.
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