Analysis of Stage Love
Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)
WHEN the game began between them for a jest,
He played king and she played queen to match the best;
Laughter soft as tears, and tears that turned to laughter,
These were things she sought for years and sorrowed after.
Pleasure with dry lips, and pain that walks by night;
All the sting and all the stain of long delight;
These were things she knew not of, that knew not of her,
When she played at half a love with half a lover.
Time was chorus, gave them cues to laugh or cry;
They would kill, befool, amuse him, let him die;
Set him webs to weave to-day and break to-morrow,
Till he died for good in play, and rose in sorrow.
What the years mean; how time dies and is not slain;
How love grows and laughs and cries and wanes again;
These were things she came to know, and take their measure,
When the play was played out so for one man’s pleasure.
Scheme | AABB CCBB DDEE XXBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 10101011101 11101111101 101110111110 10111110110 10111011111 10101011101 101111111110 111110111010 11101111111 1111011111 111111101110 111110101010 10111110111 11101010101 101111101110 101111111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 843 |
Words | 167 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 41 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 92 Views
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"Stage Love" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1401/stage-love>.
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