Analysis of The Last Judgment

Amy Levy 1861 (London) – 1889 (London)



With beating heart and lagging feet,
Lord, I approach the Judgment-seat.
All bring hither the fruits of toil,
Measures of wheat and measures of oil;

Gold and jewels and precious wine;
No hands bare like these hands of mine.
The treasure I have nor weighs nor gleams:
Lord, I can bring you only dreams.

In days of spring, when my blood ran high,
I lay in the grass and looked at the sky,
And dreamed that my love lay by my side--
My love was false, and then she died.

All the heat of the summer through,
I dreamed she lived, that her heart was true
Throughout the hours of the day I slept,
But woke in the night, at times, and wept.

The nights and days, they went and came,
I lay in shadow and dreamed of fame;
And heard men passing the lonely place,
Who marked me not and my hidden face.

My strength waxed faint, my hair grew grey;
Nothing but dreams by night and day.
Some men sicken, with wine and food;
I starved on dreams, and found them good.

* * * * * * *

This is the tale I have to tell--
Show the fellow the way to hell.


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ KKXX LL
Poetic Form
Metre 11010101 11010101 11100111 101101011 10100101 11111111 010111111 11111101 011111111 1100101101 011111111 11110111 10110101 111110111 0101010111 110011101 01011101 11010111 011100101 111101101 11111111 10111101 11101101 11110111 1 11011111 10100111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,011
Words 208
Sentences 10
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1, 2
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 97
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

1:02 min read
115

Amy Levy

Amy Levy was a British essayist, poet, and novelist best remembered for her feminist positions and her homosexual romances during the Victorian era. more…

All Amy Levy poems | Amy Levy Books

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