Modern Love XVII: At Dinner She Is Hostess

George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)



At dinner, she is hostess, I am host.
Went the feast ever cheerfuller? She keeps
The Topic over intellectual deeps
In buoyancy afloat. They see no ghost.
With sparkling surface-eyes we ply the ball:
It is in truth a most contagious game:
HIDING THE SKELETON, shall be its name.
Such play as this the devils might appal!
But here's the greater wonder; in that we,
Enamoured of an acting nought can tire,
Each other, like true hypocrites, admire;
Warm-lighted looks, Love's ephemerioe,
Shoot gaily o'er the dishes and the wine.
We waken envy of our happy lot.
Fast, sweet, and golden, shows the marriage-knot.
Dear guests, you now have seen Love's corpse-light shine.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

35 sec read
99

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBACDDCEFGFHIIH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 673
Words 115
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

George Meredith

George Meredith was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. more…

All George Meredith poems | George Meredith Books

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