Analysis of Tears

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)



THANK God, bless God, all ye who suffer not
More grief than ye can weep for. That is well--
That is light grieving ! lighter, none befell
Since Adam forfeited the primal lot.
Tears ! what are tears ? The babe weeps in its cot,
The mother singing, at her marriage-bell
The bride weeps, and before the oracle
Of high-faned hills the poet has forgot
Such moisture on his cheeks. Thank God for grace,
Ye who weep only ! If, as some have done,
Ye grope tear-blinded in a desert place

And touch but tombs,--look up I those tears will run
Soon in long rivers down the lifted face,
And leave the vision clear for stars and sun


Scheme ABBAABXACDC DCD
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111101 1111111111 1111010101 1101000101 1111011011 0101010101 0110010100 1111010101 1101111111 1111011111 1111000101 01111111111 1011010101 0101011101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 613
Words 117
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 11, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 238
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 04, 2023

35 sec read
117

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. more…

All Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems | Elizabeth Barrett Browning Books

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