Analysis of Three Shadows

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



I LOOKED and saw your eyes
In the shadow of your hair,
As a traveller sees the stream
In the shadow of the wood;
And I said, “My faint heart sighs,
Ah me! to linger there,
To drink deep and to dream
In that sweet solitude.”
I looked and saw your heart
In the shadow of your eyes,
As a seeker sees the gold
In the shadow of the stream;
And I said, “Ah me! what art
Should win the immortal prize,
Whose want must make life cold
And Heaven a hollow dream?”
I looked and saw your love
In the shadow of your heart,
As a diver sees the pearl
In the shadow of the sea;
And I murmured, not above
My breath, but all apart,—
“Ah! you can love, true girl,
And is your love for me?”


Scheme ABCDABCEFAGCFAGCHFIJHFIJ
Poetic Form
Metre 110111 001111 10100101 001101 0111111 111101 111011 01110 110111 001111 1010101 001101 0111111 1100101 111111 0100101 110111 001111 1010101 001101 0110101 111101 111111 011111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 690
Words 145
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 24
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 503
Words per stanza (avg) 139
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
114

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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