Analysis of Sonnet LXXVIII: Body's Beauty
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828 (London) – 1882 (Birchington-on-Sea)
Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told
(The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)
That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
And, subtly of herself contemplative,
Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.
The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
Scheme | ABBAACBADEDEED |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110111 0111010111 1101011101 0001011011 0111110111 01001010100 1111011111 11010011011 01010101011 1111110111 0111001111 1111111111 1111011111 01111100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 652 |
Words | 126 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 508 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 123 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 38 sec read
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"Sonnet LXXVIII: Body's Beauty" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7650/sonnet-lxxviii%3A---body%27s-beauty>.
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