Analysis of Retro Santhanas

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



'REFUSE, refrain: for this is not the love
The Annunciation Angel warned you of;
This is the little candle, not the sun;
It burns, but will not warm, unhappy one!'

'But ah! suppose the sun should never shine,
Then what an anguish of regret were mine
To know that even from this I turned away!
Candles may serve, if there should be no day.'

'Nay, better to go cold your whole life long
Than do the sun, than do your soul such wrong:
And if the sun shine not, be life's the blame
And yours the pride, who scorned the meaner flame.'


Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 0101111101 0110111 1101010101 1111110101 1101011101 1111010101 11110111101 1011111111 1101111111 1101111111 0101111101 0101110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 526
Words 107
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 134
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
44

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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