Two Loves
Deep within my heart of hearts, dear,Bound with all its strings,Two Loves are together reigningBoth are crowned like Kings;While my life, still uncomplaining,Rests beneath their wings.
So they both will rule my heart, dear,Till it cease to beat;No sway can be deeper, stronger,Truer, more complete;Growing, as it lasts the longer,Sweeter, and more sweet.
One all life and time transfigures,Piercing through and throughMeaner things with magic splendour,Old, yet ever new:This,--so strong and yet so tender,--Is . . . my Love for you.
Should it fail,--forgive my doubtingIn this world of pain,--Yet my other Love would everSteadfastly remain;And I know that I could neverTurn to that in vain.
Though its radiance may be fainter,Yet its task is wide;For it lives to comfort sorrows,Strengthen, calm, and guide,And from Trust and Honour borrowsAll its peace and pride.
Will you blame my dreaming evenIf the first were flown?Ah, I would not live without it,It is all your own:And the other--can you doubt it?--Yours, and yours alone.
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.]
- steadfastly adv.
- In a steadfast manner; firmly.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Two Loves is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Two Loves, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/two-loves.html, id L21811.
Form and metre
Two Loves is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 -ABABA dear · stringsA · reigningB · kingsA · uncomplainingB · wingsA
- 2 -ABABA dear · beatA · strongerB · completeA · longerB · sweetA
- 3 -ABABA transfigures · throughA · splendourB · newA · tenderB · youA
- 4 -ABABA doubting · painA · everB · remainA · neverB · vainA
- 5 -ABABA fainter · wideA · sorrowsB · guideA · borrowsB · prideA
- 6 AABABA evenA · flownA · itB · ownA · itB · aloneA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Deep within my heart of hearts, dear, | 8 | ········ |
| Bound with all its strings, | 5 | ····· |
| Two Loves are together reigning | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Both are crowned like Kings; | 5 | ····· |
| While my life, still uncomplaining, | 8 | ········ |
| Rests beneath their wings. | 5 | ····· |
| So they both will rule my heart, dear, | 8 | ········ |
| Till it cease to beat; | 5 | ····· |
| No sway can be deeper, stronger, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Truer, more complete; | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Growing, as it lasts the longer, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Sweeter, and more sweet. | 5 | /˘··· |
| One all life and time transfigures, | 8 | ········ |
| Piercing through and through | 5 | /˘··· |
| Meaner things with magic splendour, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Old, yet ever new: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| This,--so strong and yet so tender,-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Is . . . my Love for you. | 5 | ····· |
| Should it fail,--forgive my doubting | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| In this world of pain,-- | 5 | ····· |
| Yet my other Love would ever | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Steadfastly remain; | 5 | /·˘˘/ |
| And I know that I could never | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Turn to that in vain. | 5 | ····· |
| Though its radiance may be fainter, | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| Yet its task is wide; | 5 | ····· |
| For it lives to comfort sorrows, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Strengthen, calm, and guide, | 5 | /˘··· |
| And from Trust and Honour borrows | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| All its peace and pride. | 5 | ····· |
| Will you blame my dreaming even | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| If the first were flown? | 5 | ····· |
| Ah, I would not live without it, | 8 | ········ |
| It is all your own: | 5 | ····· |
| And the other--can you doubt it?-- | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Yours, and yours alone. | 5 | ···˘/ |
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.