Analysis of Translated from Geibel

Amy Levy 1861 (London) – 1889 (London)



O say, thou wild, thou oft deceived heart,
What mean these noisy throbbings in my breast?
After thy long, unutterable woe
Wouldst thou not rest?

Fall'n from Life's tree the sweet rose-blossom lies,
And fragrant youth has fled. What made to seem
This earth as fair to thee as Paradise,
Was all a dream.

The blossom fell, the thorn was left to me;
Deep from the wound the blood-drops ever flow,
All that I have are yearnings, wild desires,
And wrath and woe.

They brought me Lethe's water, saying, 'Drink!'
'Drink, for the draught is sweet,' I heard them say,
'Shalt learn how soft a thing forgetting is.'
I answered : 'Nay.'

What tho' indeed it were an idle cheat,
Nathless to me 'twas very fair and blest:
With every breath I draw I know that love
Reigns in my breast.

Let me go forth,--and thou, my heart, bleed on:
A lonely spot I seek by night and day,
That love and sorrow I may there breathe forth
In a last lay.


Scheme XABA XCXC XBXB XDXD XAXA XDXD
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 111111011 111101011 101111 1111 11111011101 0101111111 111111110 1101 0101011111 1101011101 11111101010 0101 111110101 1101111111 1111010101 1101 1101101101 111110101 11001111111 1011 1111011111 0101111101 1101011111 0011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 902
Words 178
Sentences 11
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 116
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
31

Amy Levy

Amy Levy was a British essayist, poet, and novelist best remembered for her feminist positions and her homosexual romances during the Victorian era. more…

All Amy Levy poems | Amy Levy Books

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