Modern Love XXV: You Like Not That French Novel
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
You like not that French novel? Tell me why.
You think it quite unnatural. Let us see.
The actors are, it seems, the usual three:
Husband, and wife, and lover. She--but fie!
In England we'll not hear of it. Edmond,
The lover, her devout chagrin doth share;
Blanc-mange and absinthe are his penitent fare,
Till his pale aspect makes her over-fond:
So, to preclude fresh sin, he tries rosbif.
Meantime the husband is no more abused:
Auguste forgives her ere the tear is used.
Then hangeth all on one tremendous IF:--
If she will choose between them. She does choose;
And takes her husband, like a proper wife.
Unnatural? My dear, these things are life:
And life, some think, is worthy of the Muse.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 64 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBCDEEFCGGCHCCH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 703 |
Words | 127 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
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"Modern Love XXV: You Like Not That French Novel" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/15539/modern-love-xxv:-you-like-not-that-french-novel>.
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