Analysis of Behold This Swarthy Face
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
BEHOLD this swarthy face--these gray eyes,
This beard--the white wool, unclipt upon my neck,
My brown hands, and the silent manner of me, without charm;
Yet comes one, a Manhattanese, and ever at parting, kisses me lightly
on the lips with robust love,
And I, on the crossing of the street, or on the ship's deck, give a
kiss in return;
We observe that salute of American comrades, land and sea,
We are those two natural and nonchalant persons.
Scheme | ABCDEFGDH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Nonet (22%) |
Metre | 011101111 1101110111 11100101011011 1110101011010110 1011011 0110101011101110 1001 101101101001101 111110000110 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 483 |
Words | 81 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 9 |
Lines Amount | 9 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 344 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 79 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 24 sec read
- 464 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Behold This Swarthy Face" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37980/behold-this-swarthy-face>.
Discuss this Walt Whitman 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