Life of Life
WHAT’S that, which, ere I spake, was gone?So joyful and intense a sparkThat, whilst o’erhead the wonder shone,The day, before but dull, grew dark.I do not know; but this I know,That, had the splendour lived a year,The truth that I some heavenly showDid see, could not be now more clear.This know I too: might mortal breathExpress the passion then inspired,Evil would die a natural death,And nothing transient be desired;And error from the soul would pass,And leave the senses pure and strongAs sunbeams. But the best, alas,Has neither memory nor tongue!
Words in this poem
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Life of Life is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Angel in the House, Project Gutenberg ebook #4099; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Coventry Patmore, Life of Life, in The Angel in the House (1854–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4099, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/patmore-angel/life-of-life.html, id L12251.
Form and metre
Life of Life is 16 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 -A-ABCBCDEDEF-F- gone · sparkA · shone · darkA · knowB · yearC · showB · clearC · breathD · inspiredE · deathD · desiredE · passF · strong · alasF · tongue
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHAT’S that, which, ere I spake, was gone? | 8 | ········ |
| So joyful and intense a spark | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| That, whilst o’erhead the wonder shone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The day, before but dull, grew dark. | 8 | ········ |
| I do not know; but this I know, | 8 | ········ |
| That, had the splendour lived a year, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The truth that I some heavenly show | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Did see, could not be now more clear. | 8 | ········ |
| This know I too: might mortal breath | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Express the passion then inspired, | 9 | ˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Evil would die a natural death, | 8 | /···/˘˘· |
| And nothing transient be desired; | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And error from the soul would pass, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And leave the senses pure and strong | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As sunbeams. But the best, alas, | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| Has neither memory nor tongue! | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
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.