Analysis of To Eva

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)



O Fair and stately maid, whose eye
Was kindled in the upper sky
At the same torch that lighted mine;
For so I must interpret still
Thy sweet dominion o'er my will,
A sympathy divine.

Ah! let me blameless gaze upon
Features that seem in heart my own,
Nor fear those watchful sentinels
Which charm the more their glance forbids,
Chaste glowing underneath their lids
With fire that draws while it repels.

Thine eyes still shined for me, though far
I lonely roved the land or sea,
As I behold yon evening star,
Which yet beholds not me.

This morn I climbed the misty hill,
And roamed the pastures through;
How danced thy form before my path,
Amidst the deep-eyed dew!

When the red bird spread his sable wing,
And showed his side of flame,
When the rose-bud ripened to the rose,
In both I read thy name.


Scheme AABCCB XXXDDX EFEF CGXG XHXH
Poetic Form
Metre 11010111 11000101 10111101 11110101 110101011 010001 11110101 10110111 11110100 11011101 1100111 110111101 11111111 11010111 11011101 11111 11110101 010101 11110111 010111 101111101 011111 101110101 011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 783
Words 150
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 126
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

45 sec read
102

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. more…

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