Analysis of A Maiden To Her Mirror
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
He said he loved me! Then he called my hair
Silk threads wherewith sly Cupid strings his bow,
My cheek a rose leaf fallen on new snow;
And swore my round, full throat would bring despair
To Venus or to Psyche.
Time and care
Will fade these locks; the merry god, I know,
Uses no grizzled cords upon his bow.
How will it be when I, no longer fair,
Plead for his kiss with cheeks, whence long ago
The early snowflakes melted quite away,
The rose leaf died – and in whose sallow clay
Lie the deep sunken tracks of life’s gaunt crow?
When this full throat shall wattle fold on fold,
Like some ripe peach left drying on a wall,
Or like a spent accordion, when all
Its music has exhaled – will love grow cold?
Scheme | ABCAX ACBACDDC EFFE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111111 111110111 1101110111 0111111101 1101110 101 1111010111 1011010111 1111111101 1111111101 010110101 011100111 1011011111 1111110111 1111110101 1101010011 1101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 719 |
Words | 139 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 182 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 113 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Maiden To Her Mirror" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10486/a-maiden-to-her-mirror>.
Discuss this Ella Wheeler Wilcox 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