Analysis of The Change

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



She leaned out into the soft June weather,
 With her long loose tresses the night breeze played;
Her eyes were as blue as the bells on the heather:
 Oh, what is so fair as a fair young maid!

She folded her hands, like the leaves of a lily,
 'My life, ' she said, 'is a night in June,
Fair and quiet, and calm and stilly;
 Bring me a change, O changeful moon!

'Who would drift on a lake forever?
 Young hearts weary - it is not strange,
And sigh for the beautiful bounding river;
 New moon, true moon, bring me a change! '

The rose that rivalled her maiden blushes
 Dropped from her breast, at a strangers feet;
Only a glance; but the hot blood rushes
 To mantle a fair face, shy and sweet.

To and fro, while the moon is waning,
 They walk, and the stars shine on above;
And one is in earnest, and one is feigning -
 Oh, what is so sweet as a sweet young love?

A young life crushed, and a young heart broken,
 A bleak wind blows through the lovely bower,
And all that remains of the love vows spoken -
 Is the trampled leaf of a faded flower.

The night is dark, for the moon is failing -
 And what is so pale as a pale old moon?
Cold is the wind through the tree tops wailing -
 Woe that the change should come so soon.


Scheme ABAB CDCD AEAE FGFG HIHI JAJA HDHD
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1110101110 1011100111 010111011010 1111110111 110011011010 111110101 10100101 1101111 111101010 11101111 01101001010 11111101 011101010 110110101 1001101110 110011101 101101110 110011101 01101001110 1111110111 0111001110 0111101010 01101101110 10101101010 0111101110 0111110111 1101101110 11011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,217
Words 245
Sentences 10
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 130
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:12 min read
97

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

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