Analysis of A Portrait

Harriet Monroe 1860 (Chicago) – 1936 (Arequipa)



The little world span round and round,
Singing along her sunny ways,
And all the glory she unwound
She gave to him for joy and praise.

And he, whom lavish morning met
With new-blown flowers and minstrelsy,
Looked on the gift through eyelids wet
For sorrow of satiety.

And he, whom noon put to the proof,
With trumpet-call and weapon blessed,
Fought the brave fight with soul aloof
Harkening for some remote behest.

Not homeward could the winged feet fare,
The lyric laughter choked a sigh—
A wanderer from he knew not where,
Dreamer of dreams, he knew not why.


Scheme ABAB CBCA DEDE FGFG
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 01011101 10010101 01010101 11111101 01110101 1111001 1101111 11011 01111101 11010101 10111101 1110101 11010111 01010101 010011111 10111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 562
Words 102
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 111
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
87

Harriet Monroe

Harriet Monroe was an American editor, scholar, literary critic, poet and patron of the arts. more…

All Harriet Monroe poems | Harriet Monroe Books

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