Analysis of Woman
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Give us that grand word ‘woman’ once again,
And let’s have done with ‘lady’: one’s a term
Full of fine force, strong, beautiful, and firm,
Fit for the noblest use of tongue or pen;
And one’s a word for lackeys. One suggests
The Mother, Wife, and Sister! One the dame
Whose costly robe, mayhap, gives her the name,
One word upon its own strength leans and rests;
The other minces tiptoe. Who would be
The perfect woman must grow brave of heart
And broad of soul to play her troubled part
Well in life’s drama. While each day we see
The ‘perfect lady’ skilled in what to do
And what to say, grace in each tone and act
(‘Tis taught in schools, but needs some native tact) ,
Yet narrow in her mind as in her shoe.
Give the first place then to the nobler phrase,
And leave the lesser word for lesser praise.
Scheme | ABBACDDCEFFEGHHGII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110101 0111110101 1111110001 1101011111 0101110101 0101010101 110111001 1101111101 010101111 0011011111 0111110101 1011011111 0011010111 0111101101 1101111101 1100011001 1011110101 0101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 823 |
Words | 155 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 613 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 155 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 46 Views
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"Woman" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/11010/woman>.
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