Analysis of Genoa and the Mediterranean.
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
O epic-famed, god-haunted Central Sea,
Heave careless of the deep wrong done to thee
When from Torino's track I saw thy face first flash on me.
And multimarbled Genova the Proud,
Gleam all unconscious how, wide-lipped, up-browed,
I first beheld thee clad--not as the Beauty but the Dowd.
Out from a deep-delved way my vision lit
On housebacks pink, green, ochreous--where a slit
Shoreward 'twixt row and row revealed the classic blue through it.
And thereacross waved fishwives' high-hung smocks,
Chrome kerchiefs, scarlet hose, darned underfrocks;
Since when too oft my dreams of thee, O Queen, that frippery mocks:
Whereat I grieve, Superba! . . . Afterhours
Within Palazzo Doria's orange bowers
Went far to mend these marrings of thy soul-subliming powers.
But, Queen, such squalid undress none should see,
Those dream-endangering eyewounds no more be
Where lovers first behold thy form in pilgrimage to thee.
Scheme | AAA BBB CCC AAX DDD AAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110101 1101011111 111111111111 0110001 111011111 1111111010101 1101111101 11111101 10110101010111 0111111 11010111 1111111111111 1111100 0101011010 111111111110 1111001111 1101001111 11010111010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 942 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 40 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 121 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 87 Views
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"Genoa and the Mediterranean." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36372/genoa-and-the-mediterranean.>.
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