Analysis of A Slice Of Wedding Cake

Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)



Why have such scores of lovely, gifted girls
Married impossible men?
Simple self-sacrifice may be ruled out,
And missionary endeavour, nine times out of ten.

Repeat 'impossible men': not merely rustic,
Foul-tempered or depraved
(Dramatic foils chosen to show the world
How well women behave, and always have behaved).

Impossible men: idle, illiterate,
Self-pitying, dirty, sly,
For whose appearance even in City parks
Excuses must be made to casual passers-by.

Has God's supply of tolerable husbands
Fallen, in fact, so low?
Or do I always over-value woman
At the expense of man?
Do I?
It might be so.


Scheme XAXA XBXB XCXC XDXXCD
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110101 1001001 101101111 010001011111 010100111010 110101 0101101101 11100101101 01001100100 1100101 11010100101 0101111100101 11011100010 100111 1111101010 100111 11 1111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 592
Words 100
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 6
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 118
Words per stanza (avg) 25
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 29, 2023

30 sec read
293

Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, scholar/translator/writer of antiquity specializing in Classical Greece and Rome, novelist and soldier in World War One. more…

All Robert Graves poems | Robert Graves Books

0 fans

Discuss this Robert Graves poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "A Slice Of Wedding Cake" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31095/a-slice-of-wedding-cake>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    May 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    30
    days
    19
    hours
    13
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Which of these poets was not American?
    A Walt Whitman
    B Rudyard Kipling
    C Emily Dickinson
    D Ezra Pound