Analysis of To A Baby.

Robert Crawford 1959 (Bellshill)



I.
Two hands that hold the world in fee,
So tender, yet so bold:
Whatever life has now for me,
Two hands that hold.
What magic lies in them enroll'd —
What wondrous alchemy
Transmuting thus life's lead to gold!
Until that thought shall cease to be,
Until my heart is cold,
I'd only clasp (how tenderly!)
Two hands that hold.
II.
Two soft blue eyes whose light has lit
Two hearts, as stars that rise —
Love's lights within the infinite,
Two soft blue eyes.
No fancy may their charm surmise,
But those who have felt it
Breathe as it were in Paradise.
Life's meanings there like shadows flit,
As in a dream's disguise
Two spirits lurked in them — to wit,
Two soft blue eyes.


Scheme abcbCcbcbcbCadefEedgdedE
Poetic Form
Metre 1 11110101 110111 1011111 1111 11010101 110100 111111 01111111 011111 11011100 1111 1 11111111 111111 11010100 1111 11011101 111111 1110010 1101111 100101 11010111 1111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 662
Words 130
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 24
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 514
Words per stanza (avg) 127
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

40 sec read
56

Robert Crawford

Robert Crawford FRSE FBA is a Scottish poet, scholar and critic. He is currently Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.  more…

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