Analysis of Unto This Last
Francis Thompson 1859 (City of Preston, Lancashire) – 1907 (London)
A boy's young fancy taketh love
Most simply, with the rind thereof;
A boy's young fancy tasteth more
The rind, than the deific core.
Ah, Sweet! to cast away the slips
Of unessential rind, and lips
Fix on the immortal core, is well;
But heard'st thou ever any tell
Of such a fool would take for food
Aspect and scent, however good,
Of sweetest core Love's orchards grow?
Should such a phantast please him so,
Love where Love's reverent self denies
Love to feed, but with his eyes,
All the savour, all the touch,
Another's--was there ever such?
Such were fool, if fool there be;
Such fool was I, and was for thee!
But if the touch and savour too
Of this fruit--say, Sweet, of you--
You unto another give
For sacrosanct prerogative,
Yet even scent and aspect were
Some elected Second's share;
And one, gone mad, should rest content
With memory of show and scent;
Would not thyself vow, if there sigh
Such a fool--say, Sweet, as I--
Treble frenzy it must be
Still to love, and to love thee?
Yet had I torn (man knoweth not,
Nor scarce the unweeping angels wot
Of such dread task the lightest part)
Her fingers from about my heart.
Heart, did we not think that she
Had surceased her tyranny?
Heart, we bounded, and were free!
O sacrilegious freedom!--Till
She came, and taught my apostate will
The winnowed sweet mirth cannot guess
And tear-fined peace of hopefulness;
Looked, spake, simply touched, and went.
Now old pain is fresh content,
Proved content is unproved pain.
Pangs fore-tempted, which in vain
I, faithless, have denied, now bud
To untempted fragrance and the mood
Of contrite heavenliness; all days
Joy affrights me in my ways;
Extremities of old delight
Afflict me with new exquisite
Virgin piercings of surprise,--
Stung by those wild brown bees, her eyes!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEXFFGGHHIIJJKKXXLLMMII XENNIIIOOXXLLPPXEQQXXGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110101 1101011 0111011 011011 11110101 11101 110010111 111110101 11011111 101101 11011101 1101111 111100101 1111111 101101 01011101 1011111 11110111 1101011 1111111 1100101 11000100 1101010 1010101 01111110 11001101 1111111 1011111 1010111 1110111 1111111 1101101 11110101 01010111 1111111 110100 1110001 1010101 110110101 0111101 01111100 1110101 1111110 1101011 1110101 1110111 1110001 101111 111011 01001101 01111100 101101 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,724 |
Words | 315 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 30, 23 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 687 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 156 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:36 min read
- 38 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Unto This Last" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13956/unto-this-last>.
Discuss this Francis Thompson poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In