Analysis of Lines: We Meet Not As We Parted

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)



I.
We meet not as we parted,
We feel more than all may see;
My bosom is heavy-hearted,
And thine full of doubt for me:--
One moment has bound the free.

II.
That moment is gone for ever,
Like lightning that flashed and died--
Like a snowflake upon the river--
Like a sunbeam upon the tide,
Which the dark shadows hide.

III.
That moment from time was singled
As the first of a life of pain;
The cup of its joy was mingled
—Delusion too sweet though vain!
Too sweet to be mine again.

IV.
Sweet lips, could my heart have hidden
That its life was crushed by you,
Ye would not have then forbidden
The death which a heart so true
Sought in your briny dew.

V.
...
...
...
Methinks too little cost
For a moment so found, so lost!


Scheme ABCBCC ADEDEE AFGFGX XHIHII C XX
Poetic Form Tetractys  (23%)
Etheree  (23%)
Metre 1 1111110 1111111 11011010 0111111 1101101 1 11011110 1101101 10101010 1010101 10111 1 11011110 10110111 01111110 0101111 1111101 1 11111110 1111111 11111100 0110111 10111 1 1 1 1 11101 10101111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 704
Words 142
Sentences 15
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 108
Words per stanza (avg) 28
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

42 sec read
150

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

All Percy Bysshe Shelley poems | Percy Bysshe Shelley Books

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