Analysis of The Hour and the Ghost
Christina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
O love, love, hold me fast,
He draws me away from thee;
I cannot stem the blast,
Nor the cold strong sea:
Far away a light shines
Beyond the hills and pines;
It is lit for me.
I have thee close, my dear,
No terror can come near;
Only far off the northern light shines clear.
Come with me, fair and false,
To our home, come home.
It is my voice that calls:
Once thou wast not afraid
When I woo’d, and said,
‘Come, our nest is newly made’—
Now cross the tossing foam.
Hold me one moment longer!
He taunts me with the past,
His clutch is waxing stronger;
Hold me fast, hold me fast.
He draws me from thy heart,
And I cannot withhold:
He bids my spirit depart
With him into the cold:—
Oh bitter vows of old!
Lean on me, hide thine eyes:
Only ourselves, earth and skies,
Are present here: be wise.
Lean on me, come away,
I will guide and steady:
Come, for I will not stay:
Come, for house and bed are ready.
Ah sure bed and house,
For better and worse, for life and death,
Goal won with shortened breath!
Come, crown our vows.
One moment, one more word,
While my heart beats still,
While my breath is stirred
By my fainting will.
O friend, forsake me not,
Forget not as I forgot:
But keep thy heart for me,
Keep thy faith true and bright;
Through the lone cold winter night
Perhaps I may come to thee.
Nay peace, my darling, peace:
Let these dreams and terrors cease:
Who spoke of death or change or aught but ease?
O fair frail sin,
O poor harvest gathered in!
Thou shalt visit him again
To watch his heart grow cold:
To know the gnawing pain
I knew of old;
To see one much more fair
Fill up the vacant chair,
Fill his heart, his children bear;
While thou and I together,
In the outcast weather,
Toss and howl and spin.
Scheme | ABABCCB DDD XEXFXFE GAGAHIHII JJJ KBKBXLLX MNMNOOBPPB QQX RRXIXISSSGGR |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111 1110111 110101 10111 101011 010101 11111 111111 110111 1011010111 111101 110111 111111 111101 11101 11011101 110101 1111010 111101 1111010 111111 111111 011001 1111001 110101 110111 111111 10001101 110111 111101 111010 111111 11101110 11101 110011101 111101 11101 110111 11111 11111 11101 110111 0111101 111111 111101 1011101 0111111 111101 1110101 1111111111 1111 1110100 1110101 111111 110101 1111 111111 110101 1111101 1101010 00110 10101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,815 |
Words | 345 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 3, 7, 9, 3, 8, 10, 3, 12 |
Lines Amount | 62 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 145 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Hour and the Ghost" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54239/the-hour-and-the-ghost>.
Discuss this Christina Rossetti 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