Analysis of Love's Substitute
Bernard O'Dowd 1866 (Beaufort) – 1953
This love, that dares not warm before its flame
Our yearning hands, or from its tempting tree
Yield fruit we may consume, or let us claim
In Hymen's scroll of happy heraldry
The twining glyphs of perfect you and me --
May kindle social fires whence curls no blame,
Find gardens where no fruits forbidden be,
And mottoes weave, unsullied by a shame.
For, love, unmothered Childhood wanly waits
For such as you to cherish it to Youth:
Raw social soils untilled need Love's own verve
That Peace a-flower may oust their weedy hates:
And where Distress would faint from wolfish sleuth
The perfect lovers' symbol is "We serve!"
Scheme | ABABBABA CDECDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110111 10101111101 1111011111 011110100 0101101101 11010101111 1101111001 011010101 111111 1111110111 110111111 11010111101 010111111 0011010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 653 |
Words | 112 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 247 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 119 Views
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"Love's Substitute" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4279/love%27s-substitute>.
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