Analysis of Love’s Likenings
Wilfrid Scawen Blunt 1840 (Petworth House) – 1922 (United Kingdom)
He.
To what, love, shall I liken thee?
Thou, methinks, shalt firstly be
A blue flower with nodding bells
In the hollow of a tree.
When the wind blows wantonly,
Thou shalt ever shake thy head
At the idle tale he tells.
But at evening from the clover,
When the world is all abed,
And the noisy day is over,
And the birds have gone to rest,
In the darkness will I hover
Till thou bid me come to thee,
Till I creep into thy nest,
I thy long--expected lover,
I thy sweet, thy honey bee.
To what, love, shall I liken thee?
Tell me, love, what wouldst thou be?
She.
I would be a white cloud lying
In the bosom of the sky,
And at noon, when Earth is sighing
For the sun my fleeces hide,
I would bask in his bright eye,
Till he drew me up on high,
Till be took me for his bride.
Thou shalt be my sun to me.
Love, but I would be a well
In the sands of Araby,
So thyself wert a gazelle
Which must either drink or die.
Bend above me, love, and lo!
In my waters thou shalt spy
All that my heart cares to show,
Thy own face against the sky.
He.
To what more shall I liken thee?
Thou, my love, shalt lastly be
A clear silver--tonguèd brook
Running downwards to the Sea,
And the reeds shall seek to stay thee
Under every shaded nook,
And the pebbles shall waylay thee,
With their bald heads to dismay thee,
Till thy pretty face grows white,
Half in anger, half in fright.
See, thy troubles are forgot
In the still pool suddenly,
And a smile has found thee out,
Taking shape of thy delight,
Laughing, weeping, onward ever
Till thou join thyself to me,
For my love shall be the river.
Thou and I shall run together
Ever till we meet the Sea.
Scheme | AAabaacbdcdedaedaAa afgfhggha ixigjgjg Aaakaakaallxaxldadda |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1 11111101 111101 01101101 0010101 1011100 1110111 1010111 11101010 1011101 00101110 0011111 00101110 1111111 1110111 11101010 1111101 11111101 1111111 1 11101110 0010101 01111110 1011101 1110111 1111111 1111111 1111111 1111101 00111 111001 1110111 1011101 0110111 1111111 1110101 1 11111101 1111101 0110111 1010101 00111111 10100101 0010111 11111011 1110111 1010101 1110101 0011100 0011111 1011101 10101010 111111 11111010 10111010 1011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,579 |
Words | 326 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 19, 9, 8, 20 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 309 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 81 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 108 Views
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"Love’s Likenings" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/38759/love%E2%80%99s-likenings>.
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