Analysis of At Bay
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Wife
Reach out your arms, and hold me close and fast.
Tell me there are no memories of your past
That mar this love of ours, so great, so vast.
Husband
Some truths are cheapened when too oft averred.
Does not the deed speak louder than the word?
(dear God, that old dream woke again and stirred.)
Wife
As you love me, you never loved before?
Though oft you say it, say it yet once more.
My heart is jealous of those days of yore.
Husband
Sweet wife, dear comrade, mother of my child,
My life is yours by memory undefiled.
(it stirs again, that passion brief and wild.)
Wife
You never knew a happier hour than this?
We two alone, our hearts surcharged with bliss,
Nor other kisses, sweet as my own kiss?
Husband
I was a thirsty field, long parched with drouth;
You were the warm rain, blowing from the south.
(But, ah, the crimson madness of her mouth!)
Wife
You would not, if you could, go down life’s track
For just one little moment and bring back
Some vanished rapture that you miss or lack?
Husband
I am content. You are my life, my all.
(One burning hour, but one, could I recall;
God, how men lie when driven to the wall!)
Scheme | Abbb Cbdd Aeee Cfbf Aggg Chhh Aiii Cjjj |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (25%) |
Metre | 1 1111011101 11111100111 11111101111 10 111101111 1101110101 1111110101 1 1111110101 1111111111 1111011111 10 111110111 111111001 1101110101 1 110101001011 1101101111 1101011111 10 1101011111 1001110101 1101010101 1 1111111111 1111010011 1101011111 10 1110111111 1101011111 1111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,126 |
Words | 221 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 122 Views
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"At Bay" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10535/at-bay>.
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