Analysis of Itylus
Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)
Swallow, my sister, O sister swallow,
How can thine heart be full of the spring?
A thousand summers are over and dead.
What hast thou found in the spring to follow?
What hast thou found in thine heart to sing?
What wilt thou do when the summer is shed?
O swallow, sister, O fair swift swallow,
Why wilt thou fly after spring to the south,
The soft south whither thine heart is set?
Shall not the grief of the old time follow?
Shall not the song thereof cleave to thy mouth?
Hast thou forgotten ere I forget?
Sister, my sister, O fleet sweet swallow,
Thy way is long to the sun and the south;
But I, fulfilled of my heart's desire,
Shedding my song upon height, upon hollow,
From tawny body and sweet small mouth
Feed the heart of the night with fire.
I the nightingale all spring through,
O swallow, sister, O changing swallow,
All spring through till the spring be done,
Clothed with the light of the night on the dew,
Sing, while the hours and the wild birds follow,
Take flight and follow and find the sun.
Sister, my sister, O soft light swallow,
Though all things feast in the spring's guest-chamber,
How hast thou heart to be glad thereof yet?
For where thou fliest I shall not follow,
Till life forget and death remember,
Till thou remember and I forget.
Swallow, my sister, O singing swallow,
I know not how thou hast heart to sing.
Hast thou the heart? is it all past over?
Thy lord the summer is good to follow,
And fair the feet of thy lover the spring:
But what wilt thou say to the spring thy lover?
O swallow, sister, O fleeting swallow,
My heart in me is a molten ember
And over my head the waves have met.
But thou wouldst tarry or I would follow
Could I forget or thou remember,
Couldst thou remember and I forget.
O sweet stray sister, O shifting swallow,
The heart's division divideth us.
Thy heart is light as a leaf of a tree;
But mine goes forth among sea-gulfs hollow
To the place of the slaying of Itylus,
The feast of Daulis, the Thracian sea.
O swallow, sister, O rapid swallow,
I pray thee sing not a little space.
Are not the roofs and the lintels wet?
The woven web that was plain to follow,
The small slain body, the flower-like face,
Can I remember if thou forget?
O sister, sister, thy first-begotten!
The hands that cling and the feet that follow,
The voice of the child's blood crying yet
Who hath remembered me? who hath forgotten?
Thou hast forgotten, O summer swallow,
But the world shall end when I forget.
Scheme | ABCABC ADEADE ADFADF GAHGAH AFEAFE ABFABF AFEAFE AIJAIJ AKEAKE XAEHAE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 1011011010 111111101 0101011001 1111001110 111101111 1111101011 1101011110 1111101101 011101111 1101101110 110111111 110101101 1011011110 1111101001 1101111010 10110110110 110100111 101101110 10100111 1101011010 11110111 1101101101 11010001110 110100101 1011011110 1111001110 111111111 111111110 110101010 110100101 1011011010 111111111 1101111110 1101011110 0101111001 11111101110 1101011010 1101101010 010110111 1111011110 110111010 110100101 1111011010 0101011 1111101101 1111011110 101101011 0111011 1101011010 111110101 11010011 0101111110 0111001011 110101101 1101011010 0111001110 011011101 11010111010 1101011010 101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,393 |
Words | 459 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 190 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 2:19 min read
- 118 Views
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"Itylus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1341/itylus>.
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