Analysis of From The Italian

Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)



AS a little child whom his mother has chidden,
Wrecked in the dark in a storm of weeping,
Sleeps with his tear-stained eyes closed hidden
And, with fists clenched, sobs still in his sleeping,

So in my breast sleeps Love, O white lady,
What does he care though the rest are playing,
With rattles and drums in the woodlands shady,
Happy children, whom Joy takes maying!

Ah, do not wake him, lest you should hear him
Scolding the others, breaking their rattles,
Smashing their drums, when their play comes near him--
Love who, for me, is a god of battles!


Scheme ABAB CBCB DEDE
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 10101111011 1001001110 111111110 0111110110 1011111110 1111101110 1100100110 10101111 1111111111 1001010110 1011111111 1111101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 549
Words 102
Sentences 3
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 144
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
74

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. more…

All Edith Nesbit poems | Edith Nesbit Books

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