Analysis of At Love's Beginning.

Robert Crawford 1959 (Bellshill)



I might not have it then — I might not, yet
She was so near to me, could I forget
She might be nearer? There was in her eyes —
What shall I say? — a hint of the sunrise
Of her heart's day: would it then break on me
In my life's glory, or should I but see
The malediction of that morning pour
Disaster on my heart for evermore?
I did not know, and all I was became
A hush, a wonder. I scarce breathed her name,
Scarce dared to read her eyes too deeply, lest
Wrath in their tenderness should be exprest;
When suddenly love's lightning ran a streak
Up the white throat into the pallid cheek;
Her eyes took wonder too — and even thus
What we to either were, revealed to us,
Rose like God's heaven, at once, in such a way
For aye; and her eyes fell as mine took sway
Upon the moment when she knew it all,
And knew in knowing it beyond recall
Was the confession which her heart had made
With eyes, not lips, ere lips to mine were laid —
That mystic moment, when all she was drew
Out of herself, as all that I was too,
Emptied of self, then found itself in her.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFAGGHHIIJJKKLLM
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1111111111 1111111101 1111011001 111101101 1011111111 0111011111 0111101 010111110 1111011101 0101011101 1111011101 101100111 1100110101 1011010101 0111010101 1111000111 11110110101 1100111111 0101011111 010101011 1001010111 1111111101 1101011111 1101111111 1011110100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,048
Words 218
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 25
Lines Amount 25
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 803
Words per stanza (avg) 216
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:06 min read
110

Robert Crawford

Robert Crawford FRSE FBA is a Scottish poet, scholar and critic. He is currently Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.  more…

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