Analysis of A Kiss (selection from Bernard Freeman Trotter, WW One poet)
She kissed me when she said good-bye—
A child's kiss, neither bold nor shy.
We had met but a few short summer hours;
Talked of the sun, the wind, the flowers,
Sports and people; had rambled through
A casual catchy song or two,
And walked with arms linked to the car
By the light of a single misty star.
(It was war-time, you see, and the streets were dark
Lest the ravishing Hun should find a mark.)
And so we turned to say good-bye;
But somehow or other, I don't know why,
—Perhaps `t was the feel of the khaki coat
(She'd a brother in Flanders then) that smote
Her heart with a sudden tenderness
Which issued in that swift caress—
Somehow, to her, at any rate
A mere hand-clasp seemed inadequate;
And so she lifted her dewey face
And kissed me—but without a trace
Of passion,—and we said good-bye…
A child's kiss,…neither bold nor shy.
My friend, I like you—it seemed to say—
Here's to our meeting again some day!
Some happier day…
Goodbye.
Scheme | AA BB CC DD EE AA FF XX XX GG AA HH HA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 01110111 11110111010 110101010 10101101 010010111 01111101 1011010101 11111100101 1010011101 01111111 111101111 01110110101 1010010111 011010100 11001101 1101101 011110100 011100101 01110101 11001111 01110111 111111111 1110100111 11001 1 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 998 |
Words | 214 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 55 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 13 |
About this poem
Trotter died in military service, 1916. Native of Toronto ON. This poem is entered in a book of war time writings from 1914 to 1918. All the featured writers as soldiers died in the conflict.
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Written on April 25, 2023
Submitted by dougb.19255 on April 25, 2023
Modified by dougb.19255 on April 25, 2023
- 1:05 min read
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"A Kiss (selection from Bernard Freeman Trotter, WW One poet)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/157611/a-kiss-%28selection-from-bernard-freeman-trotter%2C-ww-one-poet%29>.
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