Love
The fierce exulting worlds, the motes in rays,The churlish thistles, scented briers,The wind-swept bluebells on the sunny braes,Down to the central fires,
Exist alike in Love. Love is a seaFilling all the abysses dimOf lornest space, in whose deeps regallySuns and their bright broods swim.
This mighty sea of Love, with wondrous tides,Is sternly just to sun and grain;’Tis laving at this moment Saturn’s sides,’Tis in my blood and brain.
All things have something more than barren use;There is a scent upon the brier,A tremulous splendour in the autumn dews,Cold morns are fringed with fire.
The clodded earth goes up in sweet-breath’d flowers;In music dies poor human speech,And into beauty blow those hearts of oursWhen Love is born in each.
Daisies are white upon the churchyard sod,Sweet tears the clouds lean down and give.The world is very lovely. O my God,I thank Thee that I live!
Words in this poem
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- regally adv.
- In a regal or royal manner.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
- brier n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- churchyard n.
- The ground adjoining a church, in which the dead are buried; a cemetery.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alexander Smith, Love, in Poems (1829–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-alexander-smith/love.html, id L16240.
Form and metre
Love is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB raysA · briersB · braesA · firesB
- 2 -A-A sea · dimA · regally · swimA
- 3 ABAB tidesA · grainB · sidesA · brainB
- 4 ABAB useA · brierB · dewsA · fireB
- 5 ABAB flowersA · speechB · oursA · eachB
- 6 ABAB sodA · giveB · godA · liveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The fierce exulting worlds, the motes in rays, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The churlish thistles, scented briers, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| The wind-swept bluebells on the sunny braes, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Down to the central fires, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Exist alike in Love. Love is a sea | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| Filling all the abysses dim | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Of lornest space, in whose deeps regally | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Suns and their bright broods swim. | 6 | ······ |
| This mighty sea of Love, with wondrous tides, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Is sternly just to sun and grain; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| ’Tis laving at this moment Saturn’s sides, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| ’Tis in my blood and brain. | 6 | ······ |
| All things have something more than barren use; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There is a scent upon the brier, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| A tremulous splendour in the autumn dews, | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| Cold morns are fringed with fire. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The clodded earth goes up in sweet-breath’d flowers; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| In music dies poor human speech, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And into beauty blow those hearts of ours | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| When Love is born in each. | 6 | ······ |
| Daisies are white upon the churchyard sod, | 10 | /˘·····/·· |
| Sweet tears the clouds lean down and give. | 8 | ········ |
| The world is very lovely. O my God, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I thank Thee that I live! | 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.