Love's Language
How does Love speak?In the faint flush upon the tell-tale cheek,And in the pallor that succeeds it; byThe quivering lid of an averted eye--The smile that proves the patent to a sigh--Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?By the uneven heart-throbs, and the freakOf bounding pulses that stand still and ache,While new emotions, like strange barges, makeAlong vein-channels their disturbing course;Still as the dawn, and with the dawn's swift force--Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?In the avoidance of that which we seek--The sudden silence and reserve when near--The eye that glistens with an unshed tear--The joy that seems the counterpart of fear,As the alarmed heart leaps in the breast,And knows and names and greets its godlike guest--Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?In the proud spirit suddenly grown meek--The haughty heart grown humble; in the tenderAnd unnamed light that floods the world with splendor;In the resemblance which the fond eyes traceIn all fair things to one beloved face;In the shy touch of hands that thrill and tremble;In looks and lips that can no more dissemble--Thus doth Love speak.
How does Love speak?In the wild words that uttered seem so weakThey shrink ashamed to silence; in the fireGlance strikes with glance, swift flashing high and higherLike lightnings that precede the mighty storm;In the deep, soulful stillness; in the warm,Impassioned tide that sweeps through throbbing veinsBetween the shores of keen delight and pains;In the embrace where madness melts in bliss,And in the convulsive rapture of a kiss--Thus doth Love speak.
Words in this poem
- pallor n.
- Paleness; want of color; pallidity; as, pallor of the complexion. Jer. Taylor. [L., fr. pallere to be or look pale. See Pale, a.]
- averted a.
- Turned away, esp. as an expression of feeling; also, offended; unpropitious.
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- avoidance n.
- The act of annulling; annulment.
- unshed a.
- Not parted or divided, as the hair.
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- dissemble v. t.
- To hide under a false semblance or seeming; to feign (something) not to be what it really is; to put an untrue appearance upon; to disguise; to mask. [OF. dissembler to be dissimilar; pref. dis- (L. dis-) + F. sembler to seem, L. simulare to simulate; cf. L. dissimulare to dissemble. See Simulate, and cf. Diss]
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- impassioned p. p.
- Actuated or characterized by passion or zeal; showing warmth of feeling; ardent; animated; excited; as, an impassioned orator or discourse.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love's Language is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Love's Language, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/love-s-language.html, id L22138.
Form and metre
Love's Language is 41 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 78% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBBA speakA · cheekA · byB · eyeB · sighB · speakA
- 2 AABBCCA speakA · freakA · acheB · makeB · courseC · forceC · speakA
- 3 AABBBCCA speakA · seekA · nearB · tearB · fearB · breastC · guestC · speakA
- 4 AABBCCDDA speakA · meekA · tenderB · splendorB · traceC · faceC · trembleD · dissembleD · speakA
- 5 AABBCCDDEEA speakA · weakA · fireB · higherB · stormC · warmC · veinsD · painsD · blissE · kissE · speakA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How does Love speak? | 4 | ···· |
| In the faint flush upon the tell-tale cheek, | 10 | ·········· |
| And in the pallor that succeeds it; by | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| The quivering lid of an averted eye-- | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| The smile that proves the patent to a sigh-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thus doth Love speak. | 4 | ···· |
| How does Love speak? | 4 | ···· |
| By the uneven heart-throbs, and the freak | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Of bounding pulses that stand still and ache, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| While new emotions, like strange barges, make | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Along vein-channels their disturbing course; | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Still as the dawn, and with the dawn's swift force-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus doth Love speak. | 4 | ···· |
| How does Love speak? | 4 | ···· |
| In the avoidance of that which we seek-- | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The sudden silence and reserve when near-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| The eye that glistens with an unshed tear-- | 10 | ···/˘··˘/· |
| The joy that seems the counterpart of fear, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As the alarmed heart leaps in the breast, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And knows and names and greets its godlike guest-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thus doth Love speak. | 4 | ···· |
| How does Love speak? | 4 | ···· |
| In the proud spirit suddenly grown meek-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| The haughty heart grown humble; in the tender | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| And unnamed light that floods the world with splendor; | 11 | ·˘/······/˘ |
| In the resemblance which the fond eyes trace | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| In all fair things to one beloved face; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| In the shy touch of hands that thrill and tremble; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| In looks and lips that can no more dissemble-- | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Thus doth Love speak. | 4 | ···· |
| How does Love speak? | 4 | ···· |
| In the wild words that uttered seem so weak | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| They shrink ashamed to silence; in the fire | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Glance strikes with glance, swift flashing high and higher | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Like lightnings that precede the mighty storm; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| In the deep, soulful stillness; in the warm, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Impassioned tide that sweeps through throbbing veins | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Between the shores of keen delight and pains; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| In the embrace where madness melts in bliss, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| And in the convulsive rapture of a kiss-- | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| Thus doth Love speak. | 4 | ···· |
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.