Analysis of Charity
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
The Princess was of ancient line,
Of royal race was she;
Like cameo her face was fine,
With sad serentiy:
Yet bent she toiled with dimming eye,
Her rice and milk to buy.
With lacework that for pity plead,
So out of date it seemed,
She sought to make her daily bread,
As of her past she dreamed:
And though sometimes I heard her sigh,
I never knew her cry.
Her patient heart was full of hope,
For health she gave God thanks,
Till one day in an envelope
I sealed a thousand francs,
And 'neath her door for her to see
I slipped it secretly.
'Twas long after, I came to know
My gift she never spent,
But gave to one of greater woe,
And wearily she went . . .
To be of charity a part,--
That stabbed her to the heart.
For one dark day we found her dead:
Oh she was sweet to see!
Exalted in her garret bed
With face like ivory . . .
Aye, though from lack of food she died,
Unflawed she flagged her pride.
Scheme | ABACDD CCCCDD EFEFBB GCGCCC CBCBCC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (23%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01011101 110111 1100111 111 11111101 010111 1111101 111111 11110101 110111 01011101 110101 01011111 111111 1110110 110101 01011011 111100 11101111 111101 11111101 010011 11110001 110101 11111101 111111 01000101 111100 11111111 11101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 973 |
Words | 180 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 136 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 97 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Charity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32043/charity>.
Discuss this Robert William Service poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In