“Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms” by Thomas Moore

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
  Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms,
  Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art.
  Let thy loveliness fade as it will.
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
  Would entwine itself verdantly still.
It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
  And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear,
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known,
  To which time will but make thee more dear;
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
  But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sun-flower turns on her god, when he sets,
  The same look which she turned when he rose.

Use the poem to answer the question.

In line 11 of the poem (“That the fervor . . . known”), what literary devices support a thematic focus on enduring romantic love?

A.
alliteration and metonymy

B.
alliteration and apostrophe

C.
synecdoche and litotes

D.
oxymoron and anaphora

E.
parallelism and litotes

1 answer

E. parallelism and litotes. The repetition and parallel structure of "the heart that has truly loved never forgets, But as truly loves on to the close" emphasize the idea of enduring love. The use of litotes (understatement) in "to which time will but make thee more dear" also supports this focus on lasting love.