Analysis of Why, My Heart, Do We Love Her So?
William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)
Why, my heart, do we love her so?
(Geraldine, Geraldine!)
Why does the great sea ebb and flow? -
Why does the round world spin?
Geraldine, Geraldine,
Bid me my life renew:
What is it worth unless I win,
Love--love and you?
Why, my heart, when we speak her name
(Geraldine, Geraldine!)
Throbs the word like a flinging flame? -
Why does the Spring begin?
Geraldine, Geraldine,
Bid me indeed to be:
Open your heart, and take us in,
Love--love and me.
| Scheme | aBacBdcd eBecBfcf |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 11111101 001001 11011101 110111 001001 111101 11110111 1101 11111101 001001 10110101 110101 001001 110111 10110110 1101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 440 |
| Words | 86 |
| Sentences | 10 |
| Stanzas | 2 |
| Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 166 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 16, 2023
- 25 sec read
- 416 Views
3 fans
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"Why, My Heart, Do We Love Her So?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40592/why%2C-my-heart%2C-do-we-love-her-so%3F>.
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