Analysis of Ad Finum
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
On the white throat of useless passion
That scorched my soul with its burning breath
I clutched my fingers in murderous fashion
And gathered them close in a grip of death;
For why should I fan, or feed with fuel,
A love that showed me but blank despair?
So my hold was firm, and my grasp was cruel -
I meant to strangle it then and there!
I thought it was dead. But, with no warning,
It rose from its grave last night and came
And stood by my bed till the early morning.
And over and over it spoke your name.
Its throat was red where my hands had held it;
It burned my brow with its scorching breath;
And I said, the moment my eyes beheld it,
'A love like this can know no death.'
For just one kiss that your lips have given
In the lost and beautiful past to me,
I would gladly barter my hopes of Heaven
And all the bliss of Eternity.
For never a joy are the angels keeping,
To lay at my feet in Paradise,
Like that of into your strong arms creeping,
And looking into your love lit eyes.
I know, in the way that sins are reckoned,
This thought is a sin of the deepest dye;
But I know too that if an angel beckoned,
Standing close by the Throne on High,
And you, adown by the gates infernal,
Should open your loving arms and smile,
I would turn my back on things supernal,
To lie on your breast a little while.
To know for an hour you were mine completely-
Mine in body and soul, my own-
I would bear unending tortures sweetly,
With not a murmur and not a moan.
A lighter sin or lesser error
Might change through hope or fear divine;
But there is no fear, and hell hath no terror,
To change or alter a love like mine.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GBGB AHAH EXEX IJIJCKCK HLHL MNMN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 101111010 111111101 11110010010 0101100111 1111111110 011111101 11111011110 111101101 1111111110 111111101 01111101010 0100101111 1111111111 111111101 0110101111 01111111 1111111110 0010100111 11101011110 010110100 11001101010 11111010 1110111110 010011111 1100111110 1110110101 11111111010 10110111 011101010 110110101 11111111 111110101 111110101010 10100111 1110101010 110100101 010111010 11111101 11111011110 111100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,624 |
Words | 326 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 8, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 139 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 54 Views
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"Ad Finum" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10508/ad-finum>.
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