Analysis of Great Lover, The
Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)
I have been so great a lover: filled my days
So proudly with the splendour of Love's praise,
The pain, the calm, and the astonishment,
Desire illimitable, and still content,
And all dear names men use, to cheat despair,
For the perplexed and viewless streams that bear
Our hearts at random down the dark of life.
Now, ere the unthinking silence on that strife
Steals down, I would cheat drowsy Death so far,
My night shall be remembered for a star
That outshone all the suns of all men's days.
Shall I not crown them with immortal praise
Whom I have loved, who have given me, dared with me
High secrets, and in darkness knelt to see
The inenarrable godhead of delight?
Love is a flame; -- we have beaconed the world's night.
A city: -- and we have built it, these and I.
An emperor: -- we have taught the world to die.
So, for their sakes I loved, ere I go hence,
And the high cause of Love's magnificence,
And to keep loyalties young, I'll write those names
Golden for ever, eagles, crying flames,
And set them as a banner, that men may know,
To dare the generations, burn, and blow
Out on the wind of Time, shining and streaming. . . .
These I have loved:
White plates and cups, clean-gleaming,
Ringed with blue lines; and feathery, faery dust;
Wet roofs, beneath the lamp-light; the strong crust
Of friendly bread; and many-tasting food;
Rainbows; and the blue bitter smoke of wood;
And radiant raindrops couching in cool flowers;
And flowers themselves, that sway through sunny hours,
Dreaming of moths that drink them under the moon;
Then, the cool kindliness of sheets, that soon
Smooth away trouble; and the rough male kiss
Of blankets; grainy wood; live hair that is
Shining and free; blue-massing clouds; the keen
Unpassioned beauty of a great machine;
The benison of hot water; furs to touch;
The good smell of old clothes; and other such --
The comfortable smell of friendly fingers,
Hair's fragrance, and the musty reek that lingers
About dead leaves and last year's ferns. . . .
Dear names,
And thousand other throng to me! Royal flames;
Sweet water's dimpling laugh from tap or spring;
Holes in the ground; and voices that do sing;
Voices in laughter, too; and body's pain,
Soon turned to peace; and the deep-panting train;
Firm sands; the little dulling edge of foam
That browns and dwindles as the wave goes home;
And washen stones, gay for an hour; the cold
Graveness of iron; moist black earthen mould;
Sleep; and high places; footprints in the dew;
And oaks; and brown horse-chestnuts, glossy-new;
And new-peeled sticks; and shining pools on grass; --
All these have been my loves. And these shall pass,
Whatever passes not, in the great hour,
Nor all my passion, all my prayers, have power
To hold them with me through the gate of Death.
They'll play deserter, turn with the traitor breath,
Break the high bond we made, and sell Love's trust
And sacramented covenant to the dust.
---- Oh, never a doubt but, somewhere, I shall wake,
And give what's left of love again, and make
New friends, now strangers. . . .
But the best I've known,
Stays here, and changes, breaks, grows old, is blown
About the winds of the world, and fades from brains
Of living men, and dies.
Nothing remains.
O dear my loves, O faithless, once again
This one last gift I give: that after men
Shall know, and later lovers, far-removed,
Praise you, "All these were lovely"; say, "He loved."
Scheme | AAXXBBCCDDAAEEFFGGXAHHIIJKJLLXXMMNNXXOOPPMMXHHJJQQRRSSTTUUVVWWLLXXMYYZXZ 1 1 XK |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111010111 110101111 0101000100 01010110 0111111101 100101111 10111010111 11001010111 1111110111 1111010101 1011011111 1111110101 111111101111 1100010111 011101 1101111011 01001111101 11001110111 1111111111 0011111 01110011111 1011010101 01110101111 110010101 11011110010 1111 1101110 1111010011 1101011011 1101010101 100110111 01001100110 010011111010 10111111001 10111111 1011000111 1101011111 1001110101 11010101 011110111 0111110101 01000111010 11000101110 01110111 11 01010111101 110111111 1001010111 1001010101 1111001101 1101010111 1101010111 0111111001 111011101 101101001 0101110101 0111010111 1111110111 1010100110 11110111110 1111110111 11100110101 1011110111 01100101 1100111111 0111110101 11110 10111 1101011111 01011010111 110101 1001 111111101 1111111101 1101010101 1111010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 3,463 |
Words | 600 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 72, 4 |
Lines Amount | 76 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,300 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 304 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 3:03 min read
- 146 Views
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