Analysis of In The Garden
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
One moment alone in the garden,
Under the August skies;
The moon had gone but the stars shone on, -
Shone like your beautiful eyes.
Away from the glitter and gaslight,
Alone in the garden there,
While the mirth of the throng, in laugh and song,
Floated out on the air.
You looked down through the starlight,
And I looked up at you;
And a feeling came that I could not name, -
Something starnge and new.
Friends of a few weeks only, -
Why should it give me pain
To know you would go in the morrow,
And would not come again?
Formal friends of a season.
What matter that we must part?
But under the skies, with a swift surprise,
Each read the other's heart.
We did not speak, but your breath on my cheek
Was like a breeze of the south:
And your dark hair brushed my forehead
And your kiss fell on my mouth.
Some one was searching for me, -
Some one to say good-night;
And we went in from the garden,
Out of the sweet starlight,
Back to the glitter and music,
And we said 'Good-bye' in the hall,
When a dozen heard and echoed the word,
And then - well, that was all.
The river that rolls between us
Can never be crossed, I know,
For the waters are deep and the shores are steep,
And a maelstrom whirls below;
But I think we shall always remember,
Though we both may strive to forget,
How you looked in my eyes, 'neath the August skies,
After the moon had set; -
How you kissed my lips in the garden,
And we stood in a trance of bliss,
And our hearts seemed speaking together
In that one thrilling kiss.
Scheme | ABXBCDXD CEXEFXGX AHBHXIXI FCACXJXJ XGXGKLBL AMKM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110010010 100101 011110111 1111001 011010010 0100101 1011010101 101101 111101 011111 0010111111 10101 1101110 111111 111110010 011101 1011010 1101111 1100110101 110101 1111111111 1101101 01111110 0111111 1111011 111111 01101010 11011 11010010 01111001 1010101001 011111 01011011 1101111 10101100111 0010101 111111010 11111101 11101110101 100111 111110010 01100111 0101110010 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,511 |
Words | 296 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 191 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:29 min read
- 70 Views
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"In The Garden" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10659/in-the-garden>.
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