Analysis of Twilight Night

Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



We met, hand to hand,
We clasped hands close and fast,
As close as oak and ivy stand;
But it is past:
Come day, come night, day comes at last.

We loosed hand from hand,
We parted face from face;
Each went his way to his own land.
At his own pace,
Each went to fill his separate place.

If we should meet one day,
If both should not forget,
We shall clasp hands the accustomed way,
As when we met
So long ago, as I remember yet.

Where my heart is (wherever that may be)
Might I but follow!
If you fly thither over heath and lea,
O honey-seeking bee,
O careless swallow,
Bid some for whom I watch keep watch for me.

Alas! that we must dwell, my heart and I,
So far asunder.
Hours wax to days, and days and days creep by;
I watch with wistful eye,
I wait and wonder:
When will that day draw nigh—that hour draw nigh?

Not yesterday, and not, I think, to-day;
Perhaps to-morrow.
Day after day 'to-morrow' thus I say:
I watched so yesterday
In hope and sorrow,
Again to-day I watch the accustomed way.


Scheme ABABB ACACC DEDEE FGFFGF HIHHIH DGDDGD
Poetic Form
Metre 11111 111101 11110101 1111 11111111 11111 110111 11111111 1111 11111101 111111 111101 111100101 1111 1101110101 1111010111 11110 111110101 110101 11010 1111111111 0111111101 11010 10111010111 111101 11010 11111111011 110011111 01110 1101110111 11110 01010 01111100101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 978
Words 199
Sentences 12
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 33
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 125
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 31, 2023

59 sec read
52

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. "Goblin Market" and "Remember" remain famous. She wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in the UK: "In the Bleak Midwinter", later set by Gustav Holst and by Harold Darke, and "Love Came Down at Christmas", set by Harold Darke and by other composers. more…

All Christina Georgina Rossetti poems | Christina Georgina Rossetti Books

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