Analysis of Modern Love XL: I Bade My Lady Think
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
I bade my Lady think what she might mean.
Know I my meaning, I? Can I love one,
And yet be jealous of another? None
Commits such folly. Terrible Love, I ween,
Has might, even dead, half sighing to upheave
The lightless seas of selfishness amain:
Seas that in a man's heart have no rain
To fall and still them. Peace can I achieve,
By turning to this fountain-source of woe,
This woman, who's to Love as fire to wood?
She breathed the violet breath of maidenhood
Against my kisses once! but I say, No!
The thing is mocked at! Helplessly afloat,
I know not what I do, whereto I strive,
The dread that my old love may be alive,
Has seized my nursling new love by the throat.
Scheme | ABBACADCEFFEGCCG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011111 1111011111 0111010101 01110100111 1110111011 01111001 110011111 1101111101 1101110111 11011111011 110100111 0111011111 0111110001 111111111 0111111101 111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 679 |
Words | 131 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 515 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 129 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 56 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Modern Love XL: I Bade My Lady Think" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15519/modern-love-xl%3A-i-bade-my-lady-think>.
Discuss this George Meredith 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