Analysis of Plainte Eternelle
Lord Alfred Douglas 1870 (Worcestershire) – 1945 (Lancing)
The sun sinks down, the tremulous daylight dies.
(Down their long shafts the weary sunbeams glide.)
The white-winged ships drift with the falling tide,
Come back, my love, with pity in your eyes!
The tall white ships drift with the falling tide.
(Far, far away I hear the seamews' cries.)
Come back, my love, with pity in your eyes !
There is no room now in my heart for pride.
Come back, come back ! with pity in your eyes.
(The night is dark, the sea is fierce and wide.)
There is no room now in my heart for pride,
Though I become the scorn of all the wise.
I have no place now in my heart for pride.
(The moon and stars have fallen from the skies.)
Though I become the scorn of all the wise,
Thrust, if you will, sharp arrows in my side.
Let me become the scorn of all the wise.
(Out of the East I see the morning ride.)
Thrust, if you will, sharp arrows in my side,
Play with my tears and feed upon my sighs.
Wound me with swords, put arrows in my side.
(On the white sea the haze of noon-day lies.)
Play with my tears and feed upon my sighs,
But come, my love, before my heart has died.
Drink my salt tears and feed upon my sighs.
(Westward the evening goes with one red stride.)
Come back, my love, before my heart has died,
Down sinks the sun, the tremulous daylight dies.
Come back ! my love, before my heart has died.
(Out of the South I see the pale moon rise.)
Down sinks the sun, the tremulous daylight dies,
The white-winged ships drift with the falling tide.
Scheme | abBA baAB abBA baAB abBA baAb abbA baAB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 0111010011 111101011 0111110101 1111110011 0111110101 110111011 1111110011 1111101111 1111110011 0111011101 1111101111 1101011101 1111101111 0101110101 1101011101 1111110011 1101011101 1101110101 1111110011 1111010111 1111110011 1011011111 1111010111 1111011111 1111010111 1001011111 1111011111 1101010011 1111011111 1101110111 1101010011 0111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,450 |
Words | 295 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 139 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 123 Views
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"Plainte Eternelle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25981/plainte-eternelle>.
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