Analysis of Cassandra
Hilda Doolittle 1886 (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) – 1961 (Zurich)
O Hymen king.
Hymen, O Hymen king,
what bitter thing is this?
what shaft, tearing my heart?
what scar, what light, what fire
searing my eye-balls and my eyes with flame?
nameless, O spoken name,
king, lord, speak blameless Hymen.
Why do you blind my eyes?
why do you dart and pulse
till all the dark is home,
then find my soul
and ruthless draw it back?
scaling the scaleless,
opening the dark?
speak, nameless, power and might;
when will you leave me quite?
when will you break my wings
or leave them utterly free
to scale heaven endlessly?
A bitter, broken thing,
my heart, O Hymen lord,
yet neither drought nor sword
baffles men quite,
why must they feign to fear
my virgin glance?
feigned utterly or real
why do they shrink?
my trance frightens them,
breaks the dance,
empties the market-place;
if I but pass they fall
back, frantically;
must always people mock?
unless they shrink and reel
as in the temple
at your uttered will.
O Hymen king,
lord, greatest, power, might,
look for my face is dark,
burnt with your light,
your fire, O Hymen lord;
is there none left
can equal me
in ecstasy, desire?
is there none left
can bear with me
the kiss of your white fire?
is there not one,
Phrygian or frenzied Greek,
poet, song-swept, or bard,
one meet to take from me
this bitter power of song,
one fit to speak, Hymen,
your praises, lord?
May I not wed
as you have wed?
may it not break, beauty,
from out my hands, my head, my feet?
may Love not lie beside me
till his heat
burn me to ash?
may he not comfort me, then,
spent of all that fire and heat,
still, ashen-white and cool
as the wet laurels,
white, before your feet
step on the mountain-slope,
before your fiery hand
lift up the mantle
covering flower and land,
as a man lifts,
O Hymen, from his bride,
(cowering with woman eyes,) the veil?
O Hymen lord, be kind.
Scheme | A abxcdde xxxxxbfggxhh aiigxjkxxjxxhxklx AgfgiMhcMhcexxhxei nnhohoxxoxxoxplpxxxx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (32%) |
Metre | 1101 101101 110111 111011 1111110 1011101111 101101 1111010 111111 111101 110111 1111 010111 1001 10001 1101001 111111 111111 1111001 1110100 010101 111101 110111 1011 111111 1101 110011 1111 11101 101 100101 111111 11000 11101 011101 10010 11101 1101 110101 111111 1111 1101101 1111 1101 0100010 1111 1111 0111110 1111 1001101 101111 111111 1101011 111110 1101 1111 1111 111110 11111111 1111011 111 1111 1111011 11111001 110101 10110 10111 110101 0111001 11010 1001001 1011 110111 100110101 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,829 |
Words | 343 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 7, 12, 17, 18, 20 |
Lines Amount | 75 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 232 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 138 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Cassandra" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19262/cassandra>.
Discuss this Hilda Doolittle poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In