Analysis of Rose Lorraine
Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)
Sweet water-moons, blown into lights
Of flying gold on pool and creek,
And many sounds and many sights
Of younger days are back this week.
I cannot say I sought to face
Or greatly cared to cross again
The subtle spirit of the place
Whose life is mixed with Rose Lorraine.
What though her voice rings clearly through
A nightly dream I gladly keep,
No wish have I to start anew
Heart fountains that have ceased to leap.
Here, face to face with different days,
And later things that plead for love,
It would be worse than wrong to raise
A phantom far too vain to move.
But, Rose Lorraine -- ah! Rose Lorraine,
I'll whisper now, where no one hears --
If you should chance to meet again
The man you kissed in soft, dead years,
Just say for once "He suffered much,"
And add to this "His fate was worst
Because of me, my voice, my touch" --
There is no passion like the first!
If I that breathe your slow sweet name,
As one breathes low notes on a flute,
Have vext your peace with word of blame,
The phrase is dead -- the lips are mute.
Yet when I turn towards the wall,
In stormy nights, in times of rain,
I often wish you could recall
Your tender speeches, Rose Lorraine.
Because, you see, I thought them true,
And did not count you self-deceived,
And gave myself in all to you,
And looked on Love as Life achieved.
Then came the bitter, sudden change,
The fastened lips, the dumb despair:
The first few weeks were very strange,
And long, and sad, and hard to bear.
No woman lives with power to burst
My passion's bonds, and set me free;
For Rose is last where Rose was first,
And only Rose is fair to me.
The faintest memory of her face,
The wilful face that hurt me so,
Is followed by a fiery trace
That Rose Lorraine must never know.
I keep a faded ribbon string
You used to wear about your throat;
And of this pale, this perished thing,
I think I know the threads by rote.
God help such love! To touch your hand,
To loiter where your feet might fall,
You marvellous girl, my soul would stand
The worst of hell -- its fires and all!
Scheme | ABABCDCE FGFGHXHX EXDXIJIJ KLKLMEME FNFNOPOP JQJQCRCR STSTUMUM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011011 11011101 01010101 11011111 11011111 11011101 01010101 11111101 11011101 01011101 11111101 11011111 111111001 01011111 11111111 01011111 11011101 11011111 11111101 01110111 11111101 01111111 01111111 11110101 11111111 11111101 11111111 01110111 11110101 01010111 1101111 11010101 01111111 01111101 0110111 01111101 11010101 01010101 01110101 01010111 110111011 1110111 11111111 01011111 010100101 0111111 110101001 11011101 11010101 11110111 01111101 11110111 11111111 11011111 1111111 011111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,122 |
Words | 395 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 223 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:58 min read
- 61 Views
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"Rose Lorraine" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17557/rose-lorraine>.
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