Analysis of Mockery
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Why do we grudge our sweets so to the living
Who, God knows, find at best too much of gall,
And then with generous, open hands kneel, giving
Unto the dead our all?
Why do we pierce the warm hearts, sin or sorrow,
With idle jests, or scorn, or cruel sneers,
And when it cannot know, on some to-morrow,
Speak of its woe through tears?
What do the dead care, for the tender token—
The love, the praise, the floral offerings?
But palpitating, living hearts are broken
For want of just these things.
Scheme | ABABCDCEFGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111110111010 1111111111 011100101110 1001101 11110111110 1101111101 01110111110 111111 11011101010 0101010100 11000101110 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 493 |
Words | 95 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 12 |
Lines Amount | 12 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 380 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 93 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 28 sec read
- 76 Views
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"Mockery" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10710/mockery>.
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