Analysis of Had I But Known
James Brunton Stephens 1835 (Scotland) – 1902
I loved thee! Ah, those vows of love,
So fondly made, so soon unmade!
I trusted thee all men above—
Ah, fatal trust, so soon betrayed.
A dream that wore the face of truth
Was what I loved. The dream has flown.
All, all I've lost, faith, hope and love,
Had I but known! Had I but known!
Thou weepest. Would that I could shed
A tear for either joy or grief!
But from the heart grown cold and dead
There springs no fountain of relief.
Now all my life is tearless pain,
My hope forgetfulness alone,
And all my speech the one refrain—
Had I but known! Had I but known!
| Scheme | ababxcaC dedefcfC |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 11111111 11011101 11011101 11011101 01110111 11110111 11111101 11111111 1111111 01110111 11011101 11110101 1111111 11101 01110101 11111111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 560 |
| Words | 114 |
| Sentences | 13 |
| Stanzas | 2 |
| Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
| Words per line (avg) | 7 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 213 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 34 sec read
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"Had I But Known" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20000/had-i-but-known>.
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