Her Love
She loves him; for her infinite soul is Love,And he her lodestar. Passion in her isA glass facing his fire, where the bright blissIs mirrored, and the heat returned. Yet moveThat glass, a stranger's amorous flame to prove,And it shall turn, by instant contraries,Ice to the moon; while her pure fire to hisFor whom it burns, clings close i' the heart's alcove.
Lo! they are one. With wifely breast to breastAnd circling arms, she welcomes all commandOf love,--her soul to answering ardours fann'd:Yet as morn springs or twilight sinks to rest,Ah! who shall say she deems not loveliestThe hour of sisterly sweet hand-in-hand?
Words in this poem
- lodestar n.
- A star that leads; a guiding star; esp., the polestar; the cynosure. [Load, lode + star. See Lode.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- contraries n.
- Propositions which directly and destructively contradict each other, but of which the falsehood of one does not establish the truth of the other. [Pl. of Contrary, n.]
- alcove n.
- A recessed portion of a room, or a small room opening into a larger one; especially, a recess to contain a bed; a lateral recess in a library. [F. alcôve, Sp. or Pg. alcoba, from Ar. al-quobbah arch, vault, tent.]
- wifely a.
- Becoming or life; of or pertaining to a wife. [AS. wiflic.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Her Love is in the public domain. This text is taken from The House of Life, Project Gutenberg ebook #3692; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Her Love, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/her-love.html, id L20974.
Form and metre
Her Love is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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 AB-AABB- loveA · isB · bliss · moveA · proveA · contrariesB · hisB · alcove
- 2 ABBAAB breastA · commandB · fann'dB · restA · loveliestA · handB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| She loves him; for her infinite soul is Love, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And he her lodestar. Passion in her is | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| A glass facing his fire, where the bright bliss | 10 | ··/˘·/···· |
| Is mirrored, and the heat returned. Yet move | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| That glass, a stranger's amorous flame to prove, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And it shall turn, by instant contraries, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Ice to the moon; while her pure fire to his | 10 | ·······/·· |
| For whom it burns, clings close i' the heart's alcove. | 11 | ·········/· |
| Lo! they are one. With wifely breast to breast | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And circling arms, she welcomes all command | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Of love,--her soul to answering ardours fann'd: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Yet as morn springs or twilight sinks to rest, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Ah! who shall say she deems not loveliest | 10 | ·········· |
| The hour of sisterly sweet hand-in-hand? | 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.