Analysis of The Foolish Elm
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
The bold young Autumn came riding along
One day where an elm-tree grew.
'You are fair,' he said, as she bent down her head,
'Too fair for your robe's dull hue.
You are far too young for a garb so old;
Your beauty needs color and sheen.
Oh, I would clothe you in scarlet and gold
Befitting the grace of a queen.
'For one little kiss on your lips, sweet elm,
For one little kiss, no more,
I would give you, I swear, a robe more fair
Than ever a princess wore.
One little kiss on those lips, my pet,
And lo! you shall stand, I say,
Queen of the forest, and, better yet,
Queen of my heart alway.'
She tossed her head, but he took the kiss-
'Tis the way of lovers bold-
And a gorgeous dress for that sweet caress
He gave ere the morning was old.
For a week and a day she ruled a queen
In beauty and splendid attire;
For a week and a day she was loved, I ween,
With the love that is born of desire.
Then bold-eyed Autumn went on his way
In search of a tree more fair;
And mob winds tattered her garments and scattered
Her finery here and there.
Poor and faded and ragged and cold
She rocked in her wild distress,
And longed for the dull green gown she had sold
For her fickle lover's caress.
And the days went by and Winter came,
And his tyrannous tempests beat
On the shivering tree, whose robes of flame
He had trampled under his feet.
I saw her reach up to the mocking skies
Her poor arms, bare and thin;
Ah, well-a-day! it is ever the way
With a woman who trades with sin.
Scheme | XAXABCBC XDEDFGFX XBHBCICI GEXEBHBH JKJKXLGL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 0111011001 1111111 11111111101 1111111 1111110111 11011001 1111101001 01001101 1110111111 1110111 1111110111 1100101 110111111 0111111 110100101 11111 110111101 1011101 0010111101 11101011 1010011101 010010010 10100111111 1011111010 111101111 0110111 01110010010 0100101 101001001 1100101 0110111111 10101001 001110101 01111 1010011111 11101011 1101110101 011101 1101111001 10101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,439 |
Words | 298 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 224 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:29 min read
- 80 Views
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"The Foolish Elm" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10846/the-foolish-elm>.
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