Analysis of Flower Of Aloe
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
HOW can I tell you how I love you, dear?
There is no music now the world is old;
The songs have all been sung, the tales all told
Broken the vows are all this many a year.
Had we but met when all the world was new,
When virgin blossoms decked untrodden fields,
I had plucked all the buds that summer yields
And woven a garland, worthy even of you.
Or had I sung when rhymes were yet unwed,
And crowned their marriage in the songs I made,
I had laid them down before you unafraid,
Meet offering to your grace and goodlihead.
But all the dreams are dreamed, and no new heat
Touches life's altars, all the scents are burnt,
The truths all taught and all the lessons learnt,
And no new stars lead kings to kiss Love's feet.
For now in this grey world, of youth bereft,
Love has no throne, no sceptre and no crown;
His groves are hushed, his altars are cast down,
And we who worship--we have nothing left.
And yet--your lips ! The God has built him there
An altar which has known nor flower nor flame:
There may we burn the incense to Love's name,
There the immortal virgin rose be fair.
So--since my lips have known but one desire,
And all my flowers of life are vowed to you--
For us, at least, the old world has something new:
For me the altar--and for you the fire!
Scheme | ABBA CDDC XEEB FGGF HIIH JKKJ LCCL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111111111 1111010111 0111110111 10011111001 1111110111 11010111 1111011101 010010101011 1111110101 0111000111 1111101101 110011101 1101110111 1011010111 0111010101 0111111111 1101111101 1111110011 1111110111 0111011101 0111011111 11011111011 1111001111 1001010111 11111111010 01110111111 11110111101 11010011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,272 |
Words | 247 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 139 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 130 Views
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"Flower Of Aloe" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8824/flower-of-aloe>.
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