Analysis of Sonnets from the Portuguese iv

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)



IF thou must love me, let it be for naught
   Except for love's sake only. Do not say,
   'I love her for her smile--her look--her way
Of speaking gently,--for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
   A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'--
   For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee--and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
   Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry:
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
   Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
   Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.


Scheme ABBAABBACDCDCE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 0111110111 1101010101 1101010111 110111011 0111011101 111001011 1111110111 111110111 111110111 0101011111 1101011111 111111110 1111110100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 651
Words 117
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 475
Words per stanza (avg) 114
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
86

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. more…

All Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems | Elizabeth Barrett Browning Books

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