Analysis of The Mismarriage
Janet Muirhead Hill 1942 (Colorado)
Ask the groom, “What does it mean,
this marriage you propose to enter?”
“It is so great; I cannot wait,
For this home where I’m the center.
“God has given me a mate,
a lovely helpmate of my own
for me to manage and direct.
She’ll be mine and mine alone.
“Church and country have ordained,
as in the marriage vows we’ll say;
she’ll promise me and no one else
to love and honor and obey.
Ask this bride what marriage means
And hear what she will say.
“A partnership, a caring bond
where each of us has equal sway.
“In any decisions to be made
About house or kids or money,
We’ll each listen respectfully,
And say, ‘I hear you, honey.’”
“Whether in sickness or in health,
Whether we’re rich or poor,
There’ll be no blame or calling names.
We’ll just love each other more.
But after years of love and war
There was nothing left to try
Not a single thing was left to do
That could make their marriage fly.
And so this poor mismarriage
Ended in bitter divorce
“To myself I must be true,”
Apart, each plied their course.
Scheme | XABA BCXC XDXD XDXD XEEE XXXF FGHG XIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 1011111 110101110 11111101 11111010 1110101 0101111 11110001 1110101 1010101 10010111 11010111 11010001 1111101 011111 0100101 11111101 010010111 01111110 11100100 0111110 10010101 100111 11111101 1111101 11011101 1110111 101011111 1111101 01111 1001001 111111 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,074 |
Words | 223 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
About this poem
I've observed more than one marriage that ended in bitter disillusionment when the couple failed to understand each other's values and goals before they tied the knot. I wrote this poem about a fictional union that, unfortunately, I believe, is not uncommon.
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"The Mismarriage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/173171/the-mismarriage>.
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