Analysis of To Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)



I.
Mine eyes were dim with tears unshed;
Yes, I was firm -- thus wert not thou;--
My baffled looks did fear yet dread
To meet thy looks -- I could not know
How anxiously they sought to shine
With soothing pity upon mine.

II.
To sit and curb the soul's mute rage
Which preys upon itself alone;
To curse the life which is the cage
Of fettered grief that dares not groan,
Hiding from many a careless eye
The scornèd load of agony.

III.
Whilst thou alone, then not regarded,
The thou alone should be,
To spend years thus, and be rewarded,
As thou, sweet love, requited me
When none were near -- Oh! I did wake
From torture for that moment's sake.

IV.
Upon my heart thy accents sweet
Of peace and pity fell like dew
On flowers half dead;-- thy lips did meet
Mine tremblingly; thy dark eyes threw
Their soft persuasion on my brain,
Charming away its dream of pain.

V.
We are not happy, sweet! our state
Is strange and full of doubt and fear;
More need of words that ills abate;--
Reserve or censure come not near
Our sacred friendship, lest there be
No solace left for thee and me.

VI.
Gentle and good and mild thou art,
Nor can I live if thou appear
Aught but thyself, or turn thine heart
Away from me, or stoop to wear
The mask of scorn, although it be
To hide the love thou feel'st for me.


Scheme ABXBXCC ADEDEAF ABFBFGG XBBBXHH FBIBIFF ABIBXFF
Poetic Form
Metre 1 1101111 11111111 11011111 11111111 11001111 11010011 1 11010111 11010101 11011101 11011111 101100101 01111100 1 110111010 010111 111101010 111111 11011111 11011101 1 01111101 11010111 110111111 111111 11010111 10011111 1 111101101 11011101 11111101 01110111 101010111 11011101 1 10010111 11111101 1111111 01111111 0111111 110111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,254
Words 255
Sentences 15
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 164
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:17 min read
177

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

All Percy Bysshe Shelley poems | Percy Bysshe Shelley Books

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