Analysis of How does Love speak?
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
In the faint flush upon the tell-tale cheek,
And in the pallor that succeeds it; by
The quivering lid of an averted eye -
The smile that proves the parent of a sigh:
Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?
By the uneven heart-throbs, and the freak
Of bounding pulses that stand still and ache
While new emotions, like strange barges, make
Along vein-channels their disturbing course,
Still as the dawn, and with the dawn's swift force:
Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?
In the avoidance of that which we seek
The sudden silence and reserve when near;
The eye that glistens with an unshed tear;
The joy that seems the counterpart of fear,
As the alarmed heart leads in the breast,
And knows, and names, and greets its godlike guest:
Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?
In the proud spirit suddenly grown meek,
The haughty heart grown humble; in the tender
And unnamed light that floods the world with splendour;
In the resemblance which the fond eyes trace
In all fair things to one beloved face;
In the shy touch of hands that thrill and tremble;
In looks and lips that can no more dissemble:
Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?
In wild words that uttered seem so weak
They shrink ashamed to silence; in the fire
Glance strikes with glance, swift flashing high and higher,
Like lightnings that precede the mighty storm
In the deep, soulful stillness; in the warm,
Impassioned tide that sweeps thro' throbbing veins,
Between the shores of keen delights and pains;
In the embrace where madness melts in bliss,
And in the convulsive rapture of a kiss:
Thus doth Love speak.
Scheme | abbbA AaccddA AaexeffA AagehhiiA AaggjjkkllA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (23%) |
Metre | 0011010111 000110111 01001110101 0111010101 1111 1111 1001011001 1101011101 1101011101 0111010101 1101010111 1111 1111 0001011111 0101000111 01111111 011101011 100111001 010101111 1111 1111 0011010011 01011100010 0011110111 0001010111 011111011 00111111010 01011111010 1111 1111 011110111 11011100010 11111101010 1101010101 0011010001 0101111101 0101110101 0001110101 00001010101 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,565 |
Words | 286 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 253 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:26 min read
- 148 Views
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"How does Love speak?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10636/how-does-love-speak%3F>.
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