Analysis of August

Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)



Why should this Negro insolently stride
Down the red noonday on such noiseless feet?
Piled in his barrow, tawnier than wheat,
Lie heaps of smouldering daisies, sombre-eyed,
Their copper petals shriveled up with pride,
Hot with a superfluity of heat,
Like a great brazier borne along the street
By captive leopards, black and burning pied.

Are there no water-lilies, smooth as cream,
With long stems dripping crystal? Are there none
Like those white lilies, luminous and cool,
Plucked from some hemlock-darkened northern stream
By fair-haired swimmers, diving where the sun
Scarce warms the surface of the deepest pool?


Scheme ABBAABBA CDECDE
Poetic Form Petrarchan sonnet  (93%)
Metre 1111011 10111111 10110111 11111011 1101010111 110111 10110010101 1101010101 1111010111 1111010111 1111010001 111110101 1111010101 1101010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 625
Words 100
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 251
Words per stanza (avg) 49
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
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Elinor Morton Wylie

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry." more…

All Elinor Morton Wylie poems | Elinor Morton Wylie Books

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