Analysis of Sonnet 01 - I thought once how Theocritus had sung
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
I thought once how Theocritus had sung
Of the sweet years, the dear and wished-for years,
Who each one in a gracious hand appears
To bear a gift for mortals, old or young:
And, as I mused it in his antique tongue,
I saw, in gradual vision through my tears,
The sweet, sad years, the melancholy years,
Those of my own life, who by turns had flung
A shadow across me. Straightway I was 'ware,
So weeping, how a mystic Shape did move
Behind me, and drew me backward by the hair:
And a voice said in mastery, while I strove,—
'Guess now who holds thee? '—' Death,' I said. But, there,
The silver answer rang,—' Not Death, but Love.'
Scheme | ABBAACBADEDFDG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 1011010111 1110010101 1101110111 0111101011 11010010111 011101001 1111111111 010111111 1101010111 01101110101 00110100111 1111111111 0101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 630 |
Words | 127 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 471 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 120 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 06, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 175 Views
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"Sonnet 01 - I thought once how Theocritus had sung" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10251/sonnet-01---i-thought-once-how-theocritus-had-sung>.
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