What shall I your true love tell?
Francis Thompson 1859 (City of Preston, Lancashire) – 1907 (London)
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What shall I your true love tell,
Earth forsaking maid?
What shall I your true love tell
When life's spectre's laid?
"Tell him that, our side the grave,
Maid may not believe
Life should be so sad to have,
That's so sad to leave!"
What shall I your true love tell
When I come to him?
What shall I your true love tell
Eyes growing dim?
"Tell him this, when you shall part
From a maiden pined;
That I see him with my heart,
Now my eyes are blind."
What shall I your true love tell
Speaking while is scant?
What shall I your true love tell
Death's white postulant?
"Tell him love, with speech at strife,
For last utterance saith:
`I who loved with all my life,
Loved with all my death.'"
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 86 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AbAbcdedAfAfghghAiAbjkjk |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 695 |
Words | 140 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
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"What shall I your true love tell?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/13957/what-shall-i-your-true-love-tell?>.
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