Modern Love XVII: At Dinner She Is Hostess
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
At dinner, she is hostess, I am host.
Went the feast ever cheerfuller? She keeps
The Topic over intellectual deeps
In buoyancy afloat. They see no ghost.
With sparkling surface-eyes we ply the ball:
It is in truth a most contagious game:
HIDING THE SKELETON, shall be its name.
Such play as this the devils might appal!
But here's the greater wonder; in that we,
Enamoured of an acting nought can tire,
Each other, like true hypocrites, admire;
Warm-lighted looks, Love's ephemerioe,
Shoot gaily o'er the dishes and the wine.
We waken envy of our happy lot.
Fast, sweet, and golden, shows the marriage-knot.
Dear guests, you now have seen Love's corpse-light shine.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 07, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 99 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBACDDCEFGFHIIH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 673 |
Words | 115 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
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"Modern Love XVII: At Dinner She Is Hostess" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/15531/modern-love-xvii:-at-dinner-she-is-hostess>.
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