Analysis of Modern Love XXIX: Am I Failing
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
Am I failing ? For no longer can I cast
A glory round about this head of gold.
Glory she wears, but springing from the mould;
Not like the consecration of the Past!
Is my soul beggared? Something more than earth
I cry for still: I cannot be at peace
In having Love upon a' mortal lease.
I cannot take the woman at her worth!
Where is the ancient wealth wherewith I clothed
Our human nakedness, and could endow
With spiritual splendour a white brow
That else had grinned at me the fact I loathed ?
A kiss is but a kiss now! and no wave
Of a great flood that whirls me to the sea.
But, as you will! we'll sit contentedly,
And eat our pot of honey on the grave.
Scheme | ABBACDDCEFFEGHHG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101110111 0101011111 1011110101 110010101 111110111 1111110111 0101010101 1101010101 110101111 101010101 110001011 1111110111 0111011011 1011111101 1111110100 01101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 666 |
Words | 132 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 508 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 132 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 104 Views
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"Modern Love XXIX: Am I Failing" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15538/modern-love-xxix%3A-am-i-failing>.
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