Analysis of The Eternal

Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)



Your dear desired grace,
Your hands, your lips of red,
The wonder of your perfect face
Will fade, like sweet rose-petals shed,
When you are dead.

Your beautiful hair
Dust in the dust will lie -
But not the light I worship there,
The gold the sunshine crowns you by -
This will not die.

Your beautiful eyes
Will be closed up with clay;
But all the magic they comprise,
The hopes, the dreams, the ecstasies
Pass not away.

All I desire and see
Will be a carrion thing;
But all that you have been to me
Is, and can never cease to be.
O Grave! where is thy victory?
Where, Death, thy sting?


Scheme ABABB CDCDD EFEAF GHGGGH
Poetic Form
Metre 110101 111111 01011011 11111101 1111 11001 100111 11011101 0101111 1111 11001 111111 11010101 010101 1101 1101001 1101001 11111111 10110111 11111100 1111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 573
Words 116
Sentences 8
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 6
Lines Amount 21
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 112
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
69

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. more…

All Edith Nesbit poems | Edith Nesbit Books

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