Angelic Love
ANGELIC love that stoops with heavenly lipsTo meet its earthly mate;Heroic love that to its sphere’s eclipseCan dare to join its fateWith one beloved devoted human heart,And share with it the passion and the smart,The undying blissOf its most fleeting kiss;The fading graceOf its most sweet embrace:—Angelic love, heroic love!Whose birth can only be above,Whose wandering must be on earth,Whose haven where it first had birth!Love that can part with all but its own worth,And joy in every sacrificeThat beautifies its Paradise!And gently, like a golden-fruited vine,With earnest tenderness itself consign,And creeping up deliriously entwineIts dear delicious armsRound the beloved being!With fair unfolded charms,All-trusting, and all-seeing,—Grape-laden with full bunches of young wine!While to the panting heart’s dry yearning drouthBuds the rich dewy mouth—Tenderly uplifted,Like two rose-leaves driftedDown in a long warm sigh of the sweet South!Such love, such love is thine,Such heart is mine,O thou of mortal visions most divine!
Words in this poem
- undying a.
- Not dying; imperishable; unending; immortal; as, the undying souls of men.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- consign v. i.
- To submit; to surrender or yield one's self.
- entwine v. t.
- To twine, twist, or wreathe together or round. [Pref. en- + twine. Cf. Intwine.]
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Angelic Love is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #1381; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George Meredith, Angelic Love, in Modern Love, and Other Poems (1851–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1381, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meredith-poems/angelic-love.html, id L13140.
Form and metre
Angelic Love is 33 lines in a single stanza. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCCDDEEFFGGGHHIIIJKJK-LL--LMMM lipsA · mateB · eclipseA · fateB · heartC · smartC · blissD · kissD · graceE · embraceE · loveF · aboveF · earthG · birthG · worthG · sacrificeH · paradiseH · vineI · consignI · entwineI · armsJ · beingK · charmsJ · seeingK · wine · drouthL · mouthL · uplifted · drifted · southL · thineM · mineM · divineM
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ANGELIC love that stoops with heavenly lips | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| To meet its earthly mate; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Heroic love that to its sphere’s eclipse | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Can dare to join its fate | 6 | ······ |
| With one beloved devoted human heart, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| And share with it the passion and the smart, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The undying bliss | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| Of its most fleeting kiss; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The fading grace | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of its most sweet embrace:— | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Angelic love, heroic love! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whose birth can only be above, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whose wandering must be on earth, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Whose haven where it first had birth! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Love that can part with all but its own worth, | 10 | ·········· |
| And joy in every sacrifice | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| That beautifies its Paradise! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And gently, like a golden-fruited vine, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| With earnest tenderness itself consign, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘/ |
| And creeping up deliriously entwine | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Its dear delicious arms | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Round the beloved being! | 6 | ··˘//˘ |
| With fair unfolded charms, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| All-trusting, and all-seeing,— | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Grape-laden with full bunches of young wine! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| While to the panting heart’s dry yearning drouth | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Buds the rich dewy mouth— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Tenderly uplifted, | 6 | /˘˘/˘˘ |
| Like two rose-leaves drifted | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Down in a long warm sigh of the sweet South! | 10 | ·········· |
| Such love, such love is thine, | 6 | ······ |
| Such heart is mine, | 4 | ···· |
| O thou of mortal visions most divine! | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
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.