Analysis of Sonnet XX
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
Beloved, my Beloved, when I think
That thou wast in the world a year ago,
What time I sat alone here in the snow
And saw no footprint, heard the silence sink
No moment at thy voice, but, link by link,
Went counting all my chains as if that so
They never could fall off at any blow
Struck by thy possible hand,--why, thus I drink
Of life's great cup of wonder ! Wonderful,
Never to feel thee thrill the day or night
With personal act or speech,--nor ever cull
Some prescience of thee with the blossoms white
Thou sawest growing ! Atheists are as dull,
Who cannot guess God's presence out of sight.
Scheme | ABBAABBACDCDCD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01101111 1110010101 1111011001 011110101 1101111111 1101111111 1101111101 11110011111 1111110100 1011110111 11001111101 11001110101 1110100111 1101110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 591 |
Words | 116 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 462 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 114 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 86 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Sonnet XX" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10341/sonnet-xx>.
Discuss this Elizabeth Barrett Browning 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