Analysis of The Hidden Room
Isabella Valancy Crawford 1850 (Dublin) – 1887 (Toronto)
I marvel if my heart,
Hath any room apart,
Built secretly its mystic walls within;
With subtly warded key.
Ne'er yielded unto me--
Where even I have surely never been.
Ah, surely I know all
The bright and cheerful hall
With the fire ever red upon its hearth;
My friends dwell with me there,
Nor comes the step of Care
To sadden down its music and its mirth.
Full well I know as mine,
The little cloister'd shrine
No foot but mine alone hath ever trod;
There come the shining wings--
The face of one who brings
The pray'rs of men before the throne of God.
And many know full well,
The busy, busy cell,
Where I toil at the work I have to do,
Nor is the portal fast,
Where stand phantoms of the past,
Or grow the bitter plants of darksome rue.
I know the dainty spot
(Ah, who doth know it not?)
Where pure young Love his lily-cradle made;
And nestled some sweet springs
With lily-spangled wings--
Forget-me-nots upon his bier I laid.
Yet marvel I, my soul,
Know I thy very whole,
Or dost thou hide a chamber still from me?
Is it built upon the wall?
Is it spacious? is it small?
Is it God, or man, or I who holds the key?
Scheme | AABCCB DDXEEX FFGHHG IIJKKJ LLMHHM NNCDDC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111 110101 1100110101 1100101 110101 1101110101 110111 010101 10101010111 111111 110111 1101110011 111111 010101 1111011101 110101 011111 0111010111 010111 010101 1111011111 110101 1110101 110101111 110101 111111 1111110101 010111 110101 0111011111 110111 111101 1111010111 1110101 1110111 11111111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,091 |
Words | 221 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 142 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 80 Views
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