Analysis of Mother and sphinx
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
Grim is the face that looks into the night
Over the stretch of sands;
A sullen rock in a sea of white--
A ghostly shadow in ghostly light,
Peering and moaning it stands.
"Oh, is it the king that rides this way--
Oh, is it the king that rides so free?
I have looked for the king this many a day,
But the years that mock me will not say
Why tarrieth he!"
'T is not your king that shall ride to-night,
But a child that is fast asleep;
And the horse he shall ride is the Dream-horse white--
Aha, he shall speed through the ghostly light
Where the ghostly shadows creep!
"My eyes are dull and my face is sere,
Yet unto the word he gave I cling,
For he was a Pharaoh that set me here--
And, lo! I have waited this many a year
For him--my king!"
Oh, past thy face my darling shall ride
Swift as the burning winds that bear
The sand clouds over the desert wide--
Swift to the verdure and palms beside
The wells off there!
"And is it the mighty king I shall see
Come riding into the night?
Oh, is it the king come back to me--
Proudly and fiercely rideth he,
With centuries dight!"
I know no king but my dark-eyed dear
That shall ride the Dream-Horse white;
But see! he wakes at my bosom here,
While the Dream-Horse frettingly lingers near
To speed with my babe to-night!
And out of the desert darkness peers
A ghostly, ghastly, shadowy thing
Like a spirit come out of the mouldering years,
And ever that waiting spectre hears
The coming king!
Scheme | ABAABCDCCD AEAAEFGHFG IJIIJDADDA FAHFAKGKXG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110101 100111 010100111 01010101 1001011 111011111 111011111 11110111001 101111111 111 1111111111 10111101 00111110111 111110101 101011 111101111 110011111 1110101111 01111011001 1111 111111011 11010111 011100101 11010101 0111 0110101111 1100101 111011111 1001011 11001 111111111 1110111 111111101 10111101 1111111 011010101 010101001 1010111011 010110101 0101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,438 |
Words | 285 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 275 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 70 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:24 min read
- 39 Views
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"Mother and sphinx" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13012/mother-and-sphinx>.
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