Analysis of Modern Love XXI: We Three Are

George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)



We three are on the cedar-shadowed lawn;
My friend being third. He who at love once laughed,
Is in the weak rib by a fatal shaft
Struck through, and tells his passion's bashful dawn
And radiant culmination, glorious crown,
When 'this' she said: went 'thus': most wondrous she.
Our eyes grow white, encountering that we are three,
Forgetful; then together we look down.
But he demands our blessing; is convinced
That words of wedded lovers must bring good.
We question; if we dare! or if we should!
And pat him, with light laugh. We have not winced.
Next, she has fallen. Fainting points the sign
To happy things in wedlock. When she wakes,
She looks the star that thro' the cedar shakes:
Her lost moist hand clings mortally to mine.


Scheme ABBACDDCEFFEGHHG
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010101 11101111111 1001110101 110111101 01000101001 1111111101 1011101001111 0101010111 11011010101 1111010111 1101111111 0111111111 1111010101 110101111 1101110101 0111110011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 740
Words 132
Sentences 12
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 569
Words per stanza (avg) 130
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
97

George Meredith

George Meredith was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. more…

All George Meredith poems | George Meredith Books

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