Analysis of Sorry
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
There is much in life that makes me sorry as I journey
down life’s way.
And I seem to see more pathos in poor human
Lives each day.
I’m sorry for the strong brave men, who shield
the weak from harm,
But who, in their own troubled hours find no
Protecting arm.
I’m sorry for the victors who have reached
success, to stand
As targets for the arrows shot by envious failure’s
hand.
I’m sorry for the generous hearts who freely
shared their wine,
But drink alone the gall of tears in fortune’s
drear decline.
I’m sorry for the souls who build their own fame’s
funeral pyre,
Derided by the scornful throng like ice deriding
fire.
I’m sorry for the conquering ones tho know not
sin’s defeat,
But daily tread down fierce desire ‘neath scorched
and bleeding feet.
I’m sorry for the anguished hearts that break with
passions strain,
But I’m sorrier for the poor starved souls that
Never knew love’s pain.
Who hunger on through barren years not tasting
joys they crave,
For sadder far is such a lot than weeping o’er a
grave.
I’m sorry for the souls that come unwelcomed
into birth,
I’m sorry for the unloved old who cumber up the
earth.
I’m sorry for the suffering poor in life’s great
maelstrom hurled,
In truth I’m sorry for them all who make this
aching world.
But underneath whate’er seems sad and is not
understood,
I know there lies hid from our sight a mighty
germ of good.
And this belief stands firm by me, my sermon,
motto, text –
The sorriest things in this life will seem grandest
in the next.
Scheme | ABCBXDXD XEFEAGXG FHIHJKXK XLXLIMNM XONOXPXP JQAQCRXR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101111101110 111 011111100110 111 1101011111 0111 11011101011 0101 1101010111 0111 11010101110010 1 110101001110 111 11010111010 101 11010111111 10010 0101010111010 10 110101001111 101 11011101011 0101 11010101111 101 111101111 10111 11011101110 111 1101110111010 1 11010111010 011 1101001111010 1 110101001011 101 01110111111 101 101111011 01 111111101010 111 01011111110 101 0110111110 001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,611 |
Words | 277 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 195 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 142 Views
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"Sorry" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10801/sorry>.
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