Analysis of A Leave-Taking
Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)
Let us go hence, my songs; she will not hear.
Let us go hence together without fear;
Keep silence now, for singing?time is over,
And over all old things and all things dear.
She loves not you nor me as we all love her.
Yea, though we sang as angels in her ear,
She would not hear.
Let us rise up and part; she will not know.
Let us go seaward as the great winds go,
Full of blown sand and foam; what help is here?
There is no help, for all these things are so,
And all the world is bitter as a tear.
And how these things are, though ye strove to show,
She would not know.
Let us go home and hence; she will not weep.
We gave love many dreams and days to keep,
Flowers without scent, and fruits that would not grow,
Saying, `If thou wilt, thrust in thy sickle and reap.'
All is reaped now; no grass is left to mow;
And we that sowed, though all we fell on sleep,
She would not weep.
Let us go hence and rest; she will not love.
She shall not hear us if we sing hereof,
Nor see love's ways, how sore they are and steep.
Come hence, let be, lie still; it is enough.
Love is a barren sea, bitter and deep;
And though she saw all heaven in flower above,
She would not love.
Let us give up, go down; she will not care.
Though all the stars made gold of all the air,
And the sea moving saw before it move
One moon?flower making all the foam?flowers fair;
Though all those waves went over us, and drove
Deep down the stifling lips and drowning hair,
She would not care.
Let us go hence, go hence; she will not see.
Sing all once more together; surely she,
She too, remembering days and words that were,
Will turn a little toward us, sighing; but we,
We are hence, we are gone, as though we had not been there.
Nay, and though all men seeing had pity on me,
She would not see.
Scheme | ABCBCAA DDADEDD FFDFDFF GGFXFGG EEXEXEE HHCHEHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111 1111010011 110111110 0101110111 11111111110 1111110001 1111 1111011111 1111010111 1111011111 1111111111 0101110101 0111111111 1111 1111011111 1111010111 10011011111 101111011001 1111111111 0111111111 1111 1111011111 111111111 1111111101 1111111101 1101011001 011111001001 1111 1111111111 1101111101 0011010111 11101011 1111110101 1101010101 1111 1111111111 1111010101 11010010110 110100111011 1111111111111 101111011011 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,255 |
Words | 365 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 222 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:49 min read
- 270 Views
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"A Leave-Taking" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1244/a-leave-taking>.
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