Analysis of What I Have Seen #2
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
I saw a maid with her chivalrous lover:
He was both tender and true;
He kissed her lips, vowing over and over,
'Darling, I worship you.'
Sing, sing, bird of the spring,
Tell of the flowers the summer will bring.
I saw the maiden, sweet, loving, confiding,
Smile when he whispered 'Mine,'
Saw her lips meet his with no word of chiding,
Though his breath fumed with wine.
Wail, wail, Nightingale,
Sing of a mourner bowed and pale.
I saw the lover and maid at the altar,
Bound by the bands divine;
Heard the responses-they fail not nor falter-
Saw the guests pledge in wine.
Howl, howl, ominous Owl,
Shriek of the terrible tempest's scowl.
I saw the drunkard's wife weeping in anguish,
Saw her struck down by a blow;
I saw the husband in prison-cells languish-
Thus ends the tale of woe.
Shriek, shriek, O Raven! speak
Of the terrible midnight, dark and bleak.
Scheme | ABABCC CDCDEE ADADFF GHGHII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110110110 1111001 11011010010 101101 111101 1101001011 11010110010 111101 10111111110 111111 11100 11010101 11010011010 110101 10010111110 101101 111001 11010011 1101110010 1011101 11010010110 110111 111101 101001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 842 |
Words | 159 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 128 Views
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"What I Have Seen #2" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10984/what-i-have-seen-%232>.
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