Analysis of Karen
Celia Thaxter 1835 (Portsmouth) – 1894 (Appledore Island)
At her low quaint wheel she sits to spin,
Deftly drawing the long, light rolls
Of carded wool through her finders thin,
By the fireside at the Isles of Shoals.
She is not pretty, she is not young,
Poor homesick Karen, who sits and spins,
Humming a song in her tongue,
That falters and stops, and again begins,
While her wheel flies fast, with its drowsy hum,
And she makes a picture of pensive grace
As thoughts of her well-loved Norway come
And deepen the shadows across her face.
Her collar is white as the drifted snow,
And she spun and wove her blue gown fine
With those busy hands. See, a flitting glow
Makes her pale cheek burn and her dark eyes shine!
Left you a lover in that far land,
O Karen sad, that you pine so long?
Would I could unravel and understand
That sorrowful, sweet Norwegian song!
When the spring wind blew, the "America wind,"
As your people call it, that bears away
Their youths and maidens a home to find
In this distant country, could you not stay
And live in that dear Norway still,
And let the emigrant crowd sail West
Without you? Well, you have had your will.
Why would you fly from your sheltering nest?
O homesick Karen, listen to me:
You are not young and you are not fair,
But Waldemar no one else can see,
For he carries your image everywhere.
Is he too boyish a lover for you,
With all his soul in his frank blue eyes?
Feign you unconsciousness? Is it true
You know not his heart in your calm hand lies?
Handsome and gentle and good is he;
Loves you, Karen, better than life;
But do consider him, can't you see
What a happy woman would be his wife?
You won't be merry? You can't be glad?
Still must you mourn for that home afar?
Well, here is an end of a hope I had,
And I am sorry for Waldemar!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KLKL MNMN OPOP QRQR OSOS TUTU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 101111111 10100111 110110101 101010111 111101111 11101101 1001001 1100100101 1011111101 0110101101 11101111 010010101 0101110101 011010111 1110110101 1011100111 110100111 110111111 111010001 11001101 10111001001 1110111101 110100111 0110101111 0101111 010100111 011111111 1111111001 11101011 111101111 110011111 111011010 1111001011 111101111 11100111 1111101111 100100111 11101011 110101111 1010101111 111101111 111111101 1111110111 011101100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,698 |
Words | 337 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 122 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 16, 2023
- 1:41 min read
- 249 Views
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"Karen" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4856/karen>.
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