Analysis of The House of Life: 97. A Superscription

Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828 (London) – 1882 (Birchington-on-Sea)



Look in my face; my name is Might-have-been;
        I am also call'd No-more, Too-late, Farewell;
        Unto thine ear I hold the dead-sea shell
    Cast up thy Life's foam-fretted feet between;
    Unto thine eyes the glass where that is seen
        Which had Life's form and Love's, but by my spell
        Is now a shaken shadow intolerable,
    Of ultimate things unutter'd the frail screen.

Mark me, how still I am! But should there dart
      One moment through thy soul the soft surprise
      Of that wing'd Peace which lulls the breath of sighs,--
  Then shalt thou see me smile, and turn apart
  Thy visage to mine ambush at thy heart
      Sleepless with cold commemorative eyes.


Scheme XAABBAXB CDDCCD
Poetic Form
Metre 1011111111 1110111111 1011110111 1111110101 1011011111 1111011111 11010101000 110011011 1111111111 1101110101 1111110111 1111110101 110111111 101101001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 693
Words 115
Sentences 4
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 245
Words per stanza (avg) 56
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
38

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. more…

All Dante Gabriel Rossetti poems | Dante Gabriel Rossetti Books

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