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A Match
Love brings happiness, but it also brings challenges. When two people love each other, they share more than the joyful moments. They also face changes, disappointments, and difficult days together.
In A Match, Algernon Charles Swinburne uses roses, leaves, music, and the changing seasons to describe the many sides of love. His words show how two people can be different yet still share a strong connection.
This poem reminds us that love is not always simple. There may be laughter and tears, joy and sorrow, but sharing life's experiences can make a relationship meaningful. As you read these verses, think about how love brings people together, even when life takes unexpected turns.
Updated October 7, 2026, by Catherine Pulsifer.
A Match
Poet: Algernon Charles Swinburne
If love were what the rose is,
And I were like the leaf,
Our lives would grow together
In sad or singing weather,
Blown fields or flowerful closes,
Green pleasure or gray grief;
If love were what the rose is,
And I were like the leaf.
If I were what the words are,
And love were like the tune,
With double sound and single
Delight our lips would mingle,
With kisses glad as birds are
That get sweet rain at noon;
If I were what the words are
And love were like the tune.
If you were life, my darling,
And I your love were death,
We'd shine and snow together
Ere March made sweet the weather
With daffodil and starling
And hours of fruitful breath;
If you were life, my darling,
And I your love were death.
If you were thrall to sorrow,
And I were page to joy,
We'd play for lives and seasons
With loving looks and treasons
And tears of night and morrow
And laughs of maid and boy;
If you were thrall to sorrow,
And I were page to joy.
If you were April's lady,
And I were lord in May,
We'd throw with leaves for hours
And draw for days with flowers,
Till day like night were shady
And night were bright like day;
If you were April's lady,
And I were lord in May.
If you were queen of pleasure,
And I were king of pain,
We'd hunt down love together,
Pluck out his flying feather,
And teach his feet a measure,
And find his mouth a rein;
If you were queen of pleasure,
And I were king of pain.
Key Reflections In This Poem
-
Love Brings Two People Together
The poet compares love to a rose and himself to a leaf, showing how two different things can belong together. A loving relationship grows when both people care for and support each other.
-
Love Is There Through Joy And Sorrow
Life brings happy days as well as difficult ones, and love must make room for both. Swinburne reminds us that sharing the good and the bad is part of loving someone.
-
Love Makes Life More Meaningful
Through images of music, flowers, and the seasons, the poet describes the happiness love can bring. Simple moments can become special when they are shared with someone we care about.
-
Differences Do Not Have To Divide Us
The poem brings together opposites such as pleasure and pain, life and death, and joy and sorrow. These contrasts remind us that two people do not have to be exactly alike to share a meaningful connection.
-
Love Is A Journey Shared Together
The changing seasons in the poem remind us that life never stays the same. Love grows through the experiences, changes, and memories that two people share along the way.
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Conclusion
Algernon Charles Swinburne's A Match reminds us that love brings together many different feelings and experiences. There will be happy moments, difficult times, and changes we cannot always predict. Yet love can give us someone to share those moments with.
The poem's comparisons of roses and leaves, words and music, and the changing seasons show how two people can be different and still belong together. Perhaps that is one of love's greatest gifts: having someone beside us through both the sunshine and the rain.
May these verses remind you to appreciate the person you love and the memories you are making together. The little moments, the laughter, and even the challenges can all become part of a relationship worth treasuring.
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