Analysis of Modern Beauty

Arthur Symons 1865 (Milford Haven) – 1945



I am the torch, she saith, and what to me
If the moth die of me? I am the flame
Of Beauty, and I burn that all may see
Beauty, and I have neither joy nor shame.
But live with that clear light of perfect fire
Which is to men the death of their desire.

I am Yseult and Helen, I have seen
Troy burn, and the most loving knight lies dead.
The world has been my mirror, time has been
My breath upon the glass; and men have said,
Age after age, in rapture and despair,
Love's poor few words, before my image there.

I live, and am immortal; in my eyes
The sorrow of the world, and on my lips
The joy of life, mingle to make me wise;
Yet now the day is darkened with eclipse:
Who is there lives for beauty? Still am I
The torch, but where's the moth that still dares die?


Scheme ABABCC XDXDEE FGFGHH
Poetic Form
Metre 1101110111 1011111101 1100111111 1001110111 11111110110 11110111010 111010111 1100110111 0111110111 1101010111 1101010001 1111011101 1101010011 0101010111 0111101111 1101110101 1111110111 0111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 754
Words 160
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 193
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

48 sec read
75

Arthur Symons

Arthur William Symons, was a British poet, critic and magazine editor. more…

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