Modern Love XVI: In Our Old Shipwrecked Days
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
In our old shipwrecked days there was an hour,
When in the firelight steadily aglow,
Joined slackly, we beheld the red chasm grow
Among the clicking coals. Our library-bower
That eve was left to us: and hushed we sat
As lovers to whom Time is whispering.
From sudden-opened doors we heard them sing:
The nodding elders mixed good wine with chat.
Well knew we that Life's greatest treasure lay
With us, and of it was our talk. "Ah, yes!
Love dies!" I said: I never thought it less.
She yearned to me that sentence to unsay.
Then when the fire domed blackening, I found
Her cheek was salt against my kiss, and swift
Up the sharp scale of sobs her breast did lift:--
Now am I haunted by that taste! that sound!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 57 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBACDDCEFFFGHHG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 700 |
Words | 136 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 16 |
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"Modern Love XVI: In Our Old Shipwrecked Days" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/15530/modern-love-xvi:-in-our-old-shipwrecked-days>.
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