Sonnet: I said I splendidly loved you; it's not true

Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)




I said I splendidly loved you; it's not true.
 Such long swift tides stir not a land-locked sea.
On gods or fools the high risk falls -- on you --
 The clean clear bitter-sweet that's not for me.
Love soars from earth to ecstasies unwist.
 Love is flung Lucifer-like from Heaven to Hell.
But -- there are wanderers in the middle mist,
 Who cry for shadows, clutch, and cannot tell
Whether they love at all, or, loving, whom:
 An old song's lady, a fool in fancy dress,
Or phantoms, or their own face on the gloom;
 For love of Love, or from heart's loneliness.
Pleasure's not theirs, nor pain.  They doubt, and sigh,
 And do not love at all.  Of these am I.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
105

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEFEGHH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 652
Words 125
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Rupert Brooke

Rupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". more…

All Rupert Brooke poems | Rupert Brooke Books

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    "Sonnet: I said I splendidly loved you; it's not true" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/33725/sonnet:--i-said-i-splendidly-loved-you;-it's-not-true>.

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