Analysis of The Crown Of Love

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



O might I load my arms with thee,
Like that young lover of Romance
Who loved and gained so gloriously
The fair Princess of France!

Because he dared to love so high,
He, bearing her dear weight, shall speed
To where the mountain touched on sky:
So the proud king decreed.

Unhalting he must bear her on,
Nor pause a space to gather breath,
And on the height she will be won;
And she was won in death!

Red the far summit flames with morn,
While in the plain a glistening Court
Surrounds the king who practised scorn
Through such a mask of sport.

She leans into his arms; she lets
Her lovely shape be clasped: he fares.
God speed him whole! The knights make bets:
The ladies lift soft prayers.

O have you seen the deer at chase?
O have you seen the wounded kite?
So boundingly he runs the race,
So wavering grows his flight.

- My lover! linger here, and slake
Thy thirst, or me thou wilt not win.
- See'st thou the tumbled heavens? they break!
They beckon us up and in.

- Ah, hero-love! unloose thy hold:
O drop me like a cursed thing.
- See'st thou the crowded swards of gold?
They wave to us Rose and Ring.

- O death-white mouth! O cast me down!
Thou diest? Then with thee I die.
- See'st thou the angels with their Crown?
We twain have reached the sky.


Scheme ABAB CDCD XEXE FGFG HIHI JKJK LMLM NLNL OCOC
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 11111111 11110101 110111000 011011 01111111 11001111 11010111 101101 111101 11011101 01011111 011101 10110111 100101001 0101111 110111 11011111 01011111 11110111 010111 11110111 11110101 111101 1100111 11010101 11111111 1110101011 1101100 1101111 1111011 111010111 1111101 11111111 1111111 111010111 111101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,259
Words 245
Sentences 26
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 106
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

1:14 min read
98

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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