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
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"XIV (If thou must love me, let it be for nought)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 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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