Analysis of Forget-Me-Not
William Topaz McGonagall 1825 – 1902 (Greyfriars Parish, Edinburgh)
A gallant knight and his betroth'd bride,
Were walking one day by a river side,
They talk'd of love, and they talk'd of war,
And how very foolish lovers are.
At length the bride to the knight did say,
'There have been many young ladies led astray
By believing in all their lovers said,
And you are false to me I am afraid.'
'No, Ellen, I was never false to thee,
I never gave thee cause to doubt me;
I have always lov'd thee and do still,
And no other woman your place shall fill.'
'Dear Edwin, it may be true, but I am in doubt,
But there's some beautiful flowers here about,
Growing on the other side of the river,
But how to get one, I cannot discover.'
'Dear Ellen, they seem beautiful indeed,
But of them, dear, take no heed;
Because they are on the other side,
Besides, the river is deep and wide.'
'Dear Edwin, as I doubt your love to be untrue,
I ask one favour now from you:
Go! fetch me a flower from across the river,
Which will prove you love me more than ever.'
'Dear Ellen! I will try and fetch you a flower
If it lies within my power
To prove that I am true to you,
And what more can your Edwin do?'
So he leap'd into the river wide,
And swam across to the other side,
To fetch a flower for his young bride,
Who watched him eagerly on the other side.
So he pluck'd a flower right merrily
Which seemed to fill his heart with glee,
That it would please his lovely bride;
But, alas! he never got to the other side.
For when he tried to swim across,
All power of his body he did loss,
But before he sank in the river wide,
He flung the flowers to his lovely bride.
And he cried, 'Oh, heaven! hard is my lot,
My dearest Ellen! Forget me not:
For I was ever true to you,
My dearest Ellen! I bid thee adieu!'
Then she wrung her hands in wild despair,
Until her cries did rend the air;
And she cried, 'Edwin, dear, hard is out lot,
But I'll name this flower Forget-me-not.
'And I'll remember thee while I live,
And to no other man my hand I'll give,
And I will place my affection on this little flower,
And it will solace me in a lonely hour.'
Scheme | AAXX BBXX CCDD EEFF GGAA HHFF FFHH AAAA CCAA IIAA JJHH KKJJ XXFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (77%) |
Metre | 01010111 0101110101 111101111 011010101 110110111 11110110101 1010011101 0111111101 1101110111 110111111 11111011 0110101111 110111111101 11110010101 10101011010 11111110010 1101110001 1111111 011110101 010101101 110111111101 1111111 111010101010 1111111110 110111011010 11101110 11111111 01111101 111010101 010110101 110101111 11110010101 1110101100 11111111 11111101 101110110101 11111101 1101110111 1011100101 1101011101 0111101111 110100111 11110111 1101011101 111010101 01011101 0111011111 1111100111 010101111 0111011111 01111010111010 011101001010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,019 |
Words | 418 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 119 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 2:06 min read
- 149 Views
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"Forget-Me-Not" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41813/forget-me-not>.
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