Soul-Light
What other woman could be loved like you,Or how of you should love possess his fill?After the fulness of all rapture, still,--As at the end of some deep avenueA tender glamour of day,--there comes to viewFar in your eyes a yet more hungering thrill,--Such fire as Love's soul-winnowing hands distilEven from his inmost arc of light and dew.
And as the traveller triumphs with the sun,Glorying in heat's mid-height, yet startide bringsWonder new-born, and still fresh transport springsFrom limpid lambent hours of day begun;--Even so, through eyes and voice, your soul doth moveMy soul with changeful light of infinite love.
Words in this poem
- avenue n.
- A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may by reached; a way of approach or of exit. [F. avenue, fr. avenir to come to, L. advenire. See Advene.]
- glamour n.
- A charm affecting the eye, making objects appear different from what they really are. [Scot. glamour, glamer; cf. Icel. glámeggdr one who is troubled with the glaucoma; or Icel. glam-s weakness of sight, glamour; glamr name of the moon, also of a ]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- lambent a.
- Playing on the surface; touching lightly; gliding over. [L. lambens, -enlis, p. pr. of lambere to lick; akin to lap. See Lap to drink by licking.]
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Soul-Light 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, Soul-Light, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/soul-light.html, id L20948.
Form and metre
Soul-Light is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
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 ABBAABBA youA · fillB · stillB · avenueA · viewA · thrillB · distilB · dewA
- 2 ABBACC sunA · bringsB · springsB · begunA · moveC · loveC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What other woman could be loved like you, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Or how of you should love possess his fill? | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| After the fulness of all rapture, still,-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| As at the end of some deep avenue | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A tender glamour of day,--there comes to view | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| Far in your eyes a yet more hungering thrill,-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Such fire as Love's soul-winnowing hands distil | 11 | ·/···/·˘·˘/ |
| Even from his inmost arc of light and dew. | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| And as the traveller triumphs with the sun, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Glorying in heat's mid-height, yet startide brings | 10 | /˘········ |
| Wonder new-born, and still fresh transport springs | 10 | /˘·····˘/· |
| From limpid lambent hours of day begun;-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘/··˘/ |
| Even so, through eyes and voice, your soul doth move | 10 | /········· |
| My soul with changeful light of infinite love. | 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.