Analysis of The Steps
Paul Valery 1871 (Sète) – 1945 (Paris)
Your steps, children of my silence,
Holily, slowly placed,
Towards the bed of my vigilance
Proceed dumb and frozen.
Nobody pure, divine shade,
That they are soft, your steps selected!
Gods!… all the gifts which I guess
Come to me on these naked feet!
If, of your advanced lips,
You prepare to alleviate it,
An inhabitant of my thoughts
The food of a kiss,
Does not hasten this tender act,
To be soft and not to be not?
Because I lived to await you,
And my heart was only your steps.
| Scheme | AXAX XXXX XXXX XXXX |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 11101110 1101 010111100 011010 11011 111111010 1101111 11111101 111011 10110101 10100111 01101 11101101 11101111 01111011 01111011 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 491 |
| Words | 94 |
| Sentences | 7 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
| Words per line (avg) | 6 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 93 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 28 sec read
- 150 Views
1 fan
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Steps" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29019/the-steps>.
Powered by CITE.ME
Discuss this Paul Valery poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In