Through Death to Love
Like labour-laden moonclouds faint to fleeFrom winds that sweep the winter-bitten wold,--Like multiform circumfluence manifoldOf night's flood-tide,--like terrors that agreeOf hoarse-tongued fire and inarticulate sea,--Even such, within some glass dimmed by our breath,Our hearts discern wild images of Death,Shadows and shoals that edge eternity.
Howbeit athwart Death's imminent shade doth soarOne Power, than flow of stream or flight of doveSweeter to glide around, to brood above.Tell me, my heart;--what angel-greeted doorOr threshold of wing-winnowed threshing-floorHath guest fire-fledged as thine, whose lord is Love?
Words in this poem
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- multiform a.
- Having many forms, shapes, or appearances. [L. multiformis; multus much, many + forma shape: cf. F. multiforme.]
- circumfluence n.
- A flowing round on all sides; an inclosing with a fluid.
- howbeit conj.
- Be it as it may; nevertheless; notwithstanding; although; albeit; yet; but; however. [How + be + it.]
- imminent a.
- Threatening to occur immediately; near at hand; impending; -- said especially of misfortune or peril. [L. imminens, p. pr. of imminere to project; pref. im- in + minere (in comp.) to jut, project. See Eminent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Through Death to 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, Through Death to Love, in The House of Life (1881), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3692, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-house-of-life/through-death-to-love.html, id L20961.
Form and metre
Through Death to Love is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
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 ABBAACC- fleeA · woldB · manifoldB · agreeA · seaA · breathC · deathC · eternity
- 2 ABBAAB soarA · doveB · aboveB · doorA · floorA · loveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Like labour-laden moonclouds faint to flee | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| From winds that sweep the winter-bitten wold,-- | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Like multiform circumfluence manifold | 11 | ·/˘˘˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Of night's flood-tide,--like terrors that agree | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Of hoarse-tongued fire and inarticulate sea,-- | 10 | ···/·˘˘/˘· |
| Even such, within some glass dimmed by our breath, | 10 | /·······/· |
| Our hearts discern wild images of Death, | 10 | /·˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Shadows and shoals that edge eternity. | 10 | /·····˘/˘˘ |
| Howbeit athwart Death's imminent shade doth soar | 11 | ˘/˘˘/·/˘··· |
| One Power, than flow of stream or flight of dove | 10 | ·/········ |
| Sweeter to glide around, to brood above. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Tell me, my heart;--what angel-greeted door | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Or threshold of wing-winnowed threshing-floor | 10 | ·/···/·/˘· |
| Hath guest fire-fledged as thine, whose lord is 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.