Analysis of Answered
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Good-bye – Yes, I am going,
Sudden? Well, you are right.
But a startling truth came home to me
With sudden force last night.
What is it? shall I tell you? –
Nay, that is why I go.
I am running away from the battlefield,
Turning my back on the foe.
Riddles? You think me cruel!
Have you not been most kind?
Why, when you question me like that,
What answer can I find?
You fear you failed to amuse me,
Your husband’s friend and guest,
Whom he bade you entertain and please –
Well, you have done your best.
Then, why, you ask, am I going?
A friend of mine abroad,
Whose theories I have been acting upon,
Has proven himself a fraud.
You have heard me quote from Plato
A thousand times no doubt;
Well, I have discovered he did not know
What he was talking about.
You think I am speaking strangely?
You cannot understand?
Well, let me look down into your eyes,
And let me take your hand.
I am running away from danger –
I am flying before I fall;
I am going because with heart and soul
I love you – that is all.
There, now, you are white with anger.
I knew it would be so.
You should not question a man too close
When he tells you he must go.
Scheme | ABCBXDXDXEXECFXF AGXGDHDH CIXIJKXK JDXD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110 101111 101011111 110111 1111111 111111 1110011010 1011101 1011110 111111 11110111 110111 11111011 110101 11110101 111111 11111110 011101 1101111001 1100101 11111110 010111 1110101111 1111001 11111010 11001 111110111 011111 111001110 11100111 1110011101 111111 11111110 111111 111100111 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,156 |
Words | 230 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 215 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 81 Views
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"Answered" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10523/answered>.
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