Poems of Passion
Love's LanguageImpatienceCommunismThe Common LotIndividualityFriendship after LoveQueriesUpon the SandReunitedWhat Shall We Do?"The Beautiful Blue Danube"AnsweredThrough the ValleyBut OneGuiloThe DuetLittle QueenWherefore?DelilahLove SongTime and LoveChangeDesolationIsauraThe CoquetteNot Quite the SameNew and OldFrom the GraveA Waltz-QuadrilleBeppoTiredThe Speech of SilenceConversionLove's ComingOld and NewPerfectnessAttractionGraciaAd FinemBleak WeatherAn AnswerYou Will Forget MeThe Farewell of ClarimondeThe Trio
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- duet n.
- A composition for two performers, whether vocal or instrumental. [Duetto.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- delilah n.
- The mistress of Samson, who betrayed him (Judges xvi.); hence, a harlot; a temptress.
- desolation n.
- The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation. [F. désolation, L. desolatio.]
- coquette n.
- A vain, trifling woman, who endeavors to attract admiration from a desire to grafity vanity; a flirt; -- formerly sometimes applied also to men. [F., fr. coquet, coquette, coquettish, orig., cocklike, strutting like a cock, fr. coq a cock. Cf. Cock, Cocket, Cocky, Cockade.]
- perfectness n.
- The quality or state of being perfect; perfection.
- trio n.
- Three, considered collectively; three in company or acting together; a set of three; three united. [It., fr. L. tres, tria, three: cf. F. trio, from the Italian. See Three.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems of Passion 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, Poems of Passion, (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/poems-of-passion.html, id L22136.
Form and metre
Poems of Passion is 44 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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.
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Love's Language | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Impatience | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Communism | 4 | /˘·˘ |
| The Common Lot | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Individuality | 7 | ˘·˘˘/˘˘ |
| Friendship after Love | 5 | /˘··· |
| Queries | 2 | /˘ |
| Upon the Sand | 4 | ···· |
| Reunited | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| What Shall We Do? | 4 | ···· |
| "The Beautiful Blue Danube" | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Answered | 2 | /˘ |
| Through the Valley | 4 | ··/˘ |
| But One | 2 | ·· |
| Guilo | 2 | ·· |
| The Duet | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Little Queen | 3 | /˘· |
| Wherefore? | 2 | /˘ |
| Delilah | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Love Song | 2 | ·· |
| Time and Love | 3 | ··· |
| Change | 1 | · |
| Desolation | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Isaura | 3 | ··· |
| The Coquette | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Not Quite the Same | 4 | ···· |
| New and Old | 3 | ··· |
| From the Grave | 3 | ··· |
| A Waltz-Quadrille | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Beppo | 2 | ·· |
| Tired | 2 | /˘ |
| The Speech of Silence | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Conversion | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Love's Coming | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Old and New | 3 | ··· |
| Perfectness | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Attraction | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Gracia | 2 | /˘ |
| Ad Finem | 3 | ··· |
| Bleak Weather | 3 | ·/˘ |
| An Answer | 3 | ·/˘ |
| You Will Forget Me | 5 | ··˘/· |
| The Farewell of Clarimonde | 7 | ··/···· |
| The Trio | 3 | ·/· |
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.