Analysis of Nicotine
Ezra Pound 1885 (Hailey) – 1972 (Venice)
Hymn to the Dope
Goddess of the murmuring courts,
Nicotine, my Nicotine,
Houri of the mystic sports,
trailing-robed in gabardine,
Gliding where the breath hath glided,
Hidden sylph of filmy veils,
Truth behind the dream is veiléd
E'en as thou art, smiling ever, ever gliding,
Wraith of wraiths, dim lights dividing
Purple, grey, and shadow green
Goddess, Dream-grace, Nicotine.
Goddess of the shadow's lights,
Nicotine, my Nicotine,
Some would set old Earth to rights,
Thou I none such ween.
Veils of shade our dream dividing,
Houris dancing, intergliding,
Wraith of wraiths and dream of faces,
Silent guardian of the old unhallowed places,
Utter symbol of all old sweet druidings,
Mem'ry of witched wold and green,
Nicotine, my Nicotine:
Neath the shadows of thy weaving
Dreams that need no undeceiving,
Loves that longer hold me not,
Dreams I dream not any more,
Fragrance of old sweet forgotten places,
Smiles of dream-lit, flit-by faces
All as perfume Arab-sweet
Deck the high road to thy feet
As were Godiva's coming fated
And all the April's blush belated
Were lain before her, carpeting
The stones of Coventry with spring,
So thou my mist-enwreathéd queen,
Nicotine, white Nicotine,
Riding engloried in they hair
Mak'st by-road of our dreams
Thy thorough-fare.
Scheme | x aBabcxxddbb eBebddffabB ddxxffgg ccddbbhxh |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1101 10101001 10110 110101 101010 10101110 101111 10101111 1111110101010 11111010 101011 101110 101011 10110 1111111 11111 111101010 1101 11101110 10100101110 101011111 111101 10110 1011110 11111 1110111 1111101 1011101010 11111110 1101101 1011111 1011010 010101010 01010100 01110011 1111111 10110 101011 11111101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,239 |
Words | 207 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 11, 11, 8, 9 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 201 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 251 Views
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"Nicotine" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13306/nicotine>.
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