Two Loves
One said; "Lo, I would walk hand-clasped with theeAdown the ways of joy and sunlit slopesOf earthly song in happiest vagrancyTo pluck the blossom of a thousand hopes.Let us together drain the wide world's cupWith gladness brimméd up!"
And one said, "I would pray to go with theeWhen sorrow claims thee; I would fence thy heartWith mine against all anguish; I would beThe comforter and healer of thy smart;And I would count it all the wide world's gainTo spare or share thy pain!"
Words in this poem
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- vagrancy n.
- The quality or state of being a vagrant; a wandering without a settled home; an unsettled condition; vagabondism.
- comforter n.
- One who administers comfort or consolation.
- healer n.
- One who, or that which, heals.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Two Loves is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, Two Loves, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/two-loves.html, id L29412.
Form and metre
Two Loves is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCC theeA · slopesB · vagrancyA · hopesB · cupC · upC
- 2 ABABCC theeA · heartB · beA · smartB · gainC · painC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One said; "Lo, I would walk hand-clasped with thee | 10 | ·········· |
| Adown the ways of joy and sunlit slopes | 10 | ˘/·····/·· |
| Of earthly song in happiest vagrancy | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| To pluck the blossom of a thousand hopes. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Let us together drain the wide world's cup | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| With gladness brimméd up!" | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And one said, "I would pray to go with thee | 10 | ·········· |
| When sorrow claims thee; I would fence thy heart | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| With mine against all anguish; I would be | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The comforter and healer of thy smart; | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| And I would count it all the wide world's gain | 10 | ·········· |
| To spare or share thy pain!" | 6 | ······ |
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.