Skip to content
Linespedia

Modern Love XXII: What May the Woman by George Meredith

By George Meredith

Topics: love-shayari, nature-poetry

What may the woman labour to confess? There is about her mouth a nervous twitch. 'Tis something to be told, or hidden:--which? I get a glimpse of hell in this mild guess. She has desires of touch, as if to feel That all the household things are things she knew. She stops before the glass. What sight in view? A face that seems the latest to reveal! For she turns from it hastily, and tossed Irresolute, steals shadow-like to where I stand; and wavering pale before me there, Her tears fall still as oak-leaves after frost.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"What may the woman labour to confess?..."

"Modern Love XXII: What May the Woman" by George Meredith is a love and nature english poem consisting of 16 lines. This English poem by George Meredith demonstrates the timeless power of verse to capture complex human emotions. Beginning with "What may the woman labour to confess? There is about her mouth a nervous twitch....", this piece explores themes of love and nature through vivid imagery and emotional resonance. The work invites contemplation on the deeper currents of life, love, and the human condition. George Meredith's celebrated body of poetry continues to inspire readers across generations and cultures, and this particular work stands as a powerful example of their artistic vision.

Attribution & Rights

Author:George Meredith

"What may the woman labour to confess?..." by George Meredith

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose. Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend Above the rolling ball in cloud part screened, Where sinners hugg"

"It is no vulgar nature I have wived. Secretive, sensitive, she takes a wound Deep to her soul, as if the sense had swooned, And not a thought of venge"

"WHEN by Zeus relenting the mandate was revoked, Sentencing to exile the bright Sun-God, Mindful were the ploughmen of who the steer had yoked, W"

"I have a rendezvous with Death At some disputed barricade, When Spring comes back with rustling shade And apple-blossoms fill the air— I have a rendez"

"I Ay, it is fitting on this holiday, Commemorative of our soldier dead, When -- with sweet flowers of our New England May Hiding the lichened stones"

George Meredith

About George Meredith

George Meredith (1828–1909) was an English novelist and poet whose "Modern Love" (1862) is a sequence of 50 sixteen-line sonnets exploring the disintegration of a marriage. It is considered one of the most innovative works of Victorian poetry.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose. Tired of..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.