Analysis of The Nature Of Love. (From The Italian)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



To noble heart Love doth for shelter fly,
As seeks the bird the forest's leafy shade;
Love was not felt till noble heart beat high,
Nor before love the noble heart was made.
Soon as the sun's broad flame
Was formed, so soon the clear light filled the air;
Yet was not till he came:
So love springs up in noble breasts, and there
Has its appointed space,
As heat in the bright flames finds its allotted place.
Kindles in noble heart the fire of love,
As hidden virtue in the precious stone:
This virtue comes not from the stars above,
Till round it the ennobling sun has shone;
But when his powerful blaze
Has drawn forth what was vile, the stars impart
Strange virtue in their rays;
And thus when Nature doth create the heart
Noble and pure and high,
Like virtue from the star, love comes from woman's eye.


Scheme ABABCDCDEEFGFGHIHIAA
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 1101111101 1101010101 1111110111 1011010111 110111 1111011101 111111 1111010101 110101 110011110101 1010101011 1101000101 1101110101 1110010111 1111001 1111110101 110011 0111010101 100101 110101111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 795
Words 153
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 634
Words per stanza (avg) 151
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
64

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

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