Analysis of If Truth in Hearts That Perish
Alfred Edward Housman 1859 – 1936
If truth in hearts that perish
Could move the powers on high,
I think the love I bear you
Should make you not to die.
Sure, sure, if stedfast meaning,
If single thought could save,
The world might end to-morrow,
You should not see the grave.
This long and sure-set liking,
This boundless will to please,
--Oh, you should live for ever,
If there were help in these.
But now, since all is idle,
To this lost heart be kind,
Ere to a town you journey
Where friends are ill to find.
| Scheme | XAXA BCXC BDXD XEXE |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Quatrain |
| Metre | 1101110 1101011 1101111 111111 111110 110111 0111110 111101 1101110 110111 1111110 110101 1111110 111111 1101110 111111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 485 |
| Words | 94 |
| Sentences | 5 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
| Words per line (avg) | 6 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 91 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 05, 2023
- 28 sec read
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"If Truth in Hearts That Perish" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/885/if-truth-in-hearts-that-perish>.
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