Analysis of Ralph to Mary
Amy Levy 1861 (London) – 1889 (London)
Love, you have led me to the strand,
Here, where the stilly, sunset sea,
Ever receding silently,
Lays bare a shining stretch of sand;
Which, as we tread, in waving line,
Sinks softly 'neath our moving feet;
And looking down our glances meet,
Two mirrored figures--yours and mine.
To-night you found me sad, alone,
Amid the noisy, empty books
And drew me forth with those sweet looks,
And gentle ways which are your own.
The glory of the setting sun
Has sway'd and softened all my mood;
This wayward heart you understood,
Dear love, as you have always done.
Have you forgot the poet wild,
Who sang rebellious songs and hurl'd
His fierce anathemas at 'the world,'
Which shrugg'd its shoulders, pass'd and smil'd?
Who fled in wrath to distant lands,
And sitting, thron'd upon a steep,
Made music to the mighty deep,
And thought, 'Perhaps it understands.'
Who back return'd, a wanderer drear,
Urged by the spirit's restless pain,
Sang his wild melodies in vain--
Sang them to ears that would not hear. . .
A weary, lonely thing he flies,
His soul's fire with soul's hunger quell'd,
Till, sudden turning, he beheld
His meaning--mirrored in your eyes! . . .
Ah, Love, since then have passed away
Long years ; some things are chang'd on earth;
Men say that poet had his worth,
And twine for him the tardy bay.
What care I, so that hand in hand,
And heart in heart we pace the shore?
My heart desireth nothing more,
We understand,--we understand.
Scheme | ABBA CDDC EFFE GXXG HIIH JKKJ LMML NXAN OPPO ALLA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (90%) Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11111101 110111 10010100 11010111 11110101 110110101 010110101 11010101 11111101 01010101 01111111 01011111 01010101 11010111 1101101 1111111 11010101 11010101 111101 11110101 11011101 01010101 11010101 0101101 110101001 11010101 11110001 11111111 01010111 111011101 1101011 11010011 11111101 11111111 11110111 01110101 11111101 01011101 111101 101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,407 |
Words | 255 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 110 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:19 min read
- 62 Views
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"Ralph to Mary" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2144/ralph-to-mary>.
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