Analysis of XIV (If thou must love me, let it be for nought)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
"I love her for her smile--her look--her way
Of speaking gently,--for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of ease on such a day--"
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,--and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheek dry,--
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.
Scheme | ABBAAABACDCDCA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111 0111110111 1101010101 1101010111 110111011 01111101 111001011 1111110111 111110111 111110111 0101011111 1101011111 111111110 11111110100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 610 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 466 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 113 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 182 Views
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"XIV (If thou must love me, let it be for nought)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10419/xiv-%28if-thou-must-love-me%2C-let-it-be-for-nought%29>.
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