Analysis of Swan Song
Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)
We are not sure of sorrow,
And joy was never sure;
To-day will die tomorrow;
Time stoops to no man’s lure;
And love grown faint and fretful,
With lips but half regretful
Sighs, and with eyes forgetful
Weeps that no loves endure.
From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever,
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.
| Scheme | ABABCCCB DEDEFFFE |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1111110 011101 111101 111111 0111010 1111010 1011010 111101 1111110 110111 111110 10111 1111110 1111110 1100110 11111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 452 |
| Words | 87 |
| Sentences | 3 |
| Stanzas | 2 |
| Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 180 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 26 sec read
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"Swan Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1403/swan-song>.
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