The Way That Lovers Use
The way that lovers use is this;They bow, catch hands, with never a word,And their lips meet, and they do kiss,--So I have heard.
They queerly find some healing so,And strange attainment in the touch;There is a secret lovers know,--I have read as much.
And theirs no longer joy nor smart,Changing or ending, night or day;But mouth to mouth, and heart on heart,--So lovers say.
Words in this poem
- queerly adv.
- In a queer or odd manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Way That Lovers Use is in the public domain. This text is taken from 1914, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #33902; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rupert Brooke, The Way That Lovers Use, in 1914 and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33902, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/brooke-1914/the-way-that-lovers-use.html, id L04753.
Form and metre
The Way That Lovers Use is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB thisA · wordB · kissA · heardB
- 2 ABAB soA · touchB · knowA · muchB
- 3 ABAB smartA · dayB · heartA · sayB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The way that lovers use is this; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They bow, catch hands, with never a word, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And their lips meet, and they do kiss, | 8 | ········ |
| --So I have heard. | 4 | ···· |
| They queerly find some healing so, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And strange attainment in the touch; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| There is a secret lovers know, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| --I have read as much. | 5 | ····· |
| And theirs no longer joy nor smart, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Changing or ending, night or day; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| But mouth to mouth, and heart on heart, | 8 | ········ |
| --So lovers say. | 4 | ·/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.