Analysis of Promise



I GREW a rose within a garden fair,
And, tending it with more than loving care,
I thought how, with the glory of its bloom,
I should the darkness of my life illume;
And, watching, ever smiled to see the lusty bud
Drink freely in the summer sun to tinct its blood.
My rose began to open, and its hue
Was sweet to me as to it sun and dew;
I watched it taking on its ruddy flame
Until the day of perfect blooming came,
Then hasted I with smiles to find it blushing red —
Too late! Some thoughtless child had plucked my rose and fled!


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFF
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010101 0101111101 1111010111 110101111 010101110101 110001011111 1101110011 1111111101 1111011101 0101101101 11111111101 111101111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 530
Words 109
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 409
Words per stanza (avg) 107
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

32 sec read
121

Paul Laurence Dunbar

 · 1872 · Dayton, Ohio

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

All Paul Laurence Dunbar poems | Paul Laurence Dunbar Books

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