Analysis of To
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
Mine is a wayward lay;
And, if its echoing rhymes I try to string,
Proveth a truant thing,
Whenso some names I love, send it away!
For then, eyes swimming o'er,
And clasped hands, and smiles in fondness meant,
Are much more eloquent --
So it had fain begone, and speak no more!
Yet shall it come again,
Ah, friend belov'd! if so thy wishes be,
And, with wild melody,
I will, upon thine ear, cadence my strain --
Cadence my simple line,
Unfashion'd by the cunning hand of Art,
But coming from my heart,
To tell the message of its love to thine!
As ocean shells, when taken
From Ocean's bed, will faithfully repeat
Her ancient music sweet --
Ev'n so these words, true to my heart, shall waken!
Oh! while our bark is seen,
Our little bark of kindly, social love,
Down life's clear stream to move
Toward the summer shores, where all is green --
So long thy name shall bring,
Echoes of joy unto the grateful gales,
And thousand tender tales,
To freshen the fond hearts that round thee cling!
Hast thou not look'd upon
The flowerets of the field in lowly dress?
Blame not my simpleness --
Think only of my love! -- my song is gone.
Scheme | ABBA XXXX XCCX DEED FGGF HXXH BIIB XXIX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) |
Metre | 110101 01110011111 10101 111111101 1111010 011010101 111100 111110111 111101 1101111101 011100 1101111011 101101 11010111 110111 1101011111 1101110 1101110001 010101 111111111110 1110111 10101110101 111111 0101011111 111111 1011100101 010101 1100111111 111101 011010101 1111 1101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,177 |
Words | 214 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 107 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 86 Views
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"To" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10405/to>.
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