Analysis of The Blue Scarf
Amy Lowell 1874 (Brookline) – 1925 (Brookline)
Pale, with the blue of high zeniths, shimmered over with silver, brocaded
In smooth, running patterns, a soft stuff, with dark knotted fringes,
it lies there,
Warm from a woman's soft shoulders, and my fingers close on it, caressing.
Where is she, the woman who wore it? The scent of her lingers and drugs me!
A languor, fire-shotted, runs through me, and I crush the scarf down
on my face,
And gulp in the warmth and the blueness, and my eyes swim
in cool-tinted heavens.
Around me are columns of marble, and a diapered, sun-flickered pavement.
Rose-leaves blow and patter against it. Below the stone steps a lute tinkles.
A jar of green jade throws its shadow half over the floor. A big-bellied
Frog hops through the sunlight and plops in the gold-bubbled water of a basin,
Sunk in the black and white marble. The west wind has lifted a scarf
On the seat close beside me, the blue of it is a violent outrage of colour.
She draws it more closely about her, and it ripples beneath
her slight stirring.
Her kisses are sharp buds of fire; and I burn back against her, a jewel
Hard and white; a stalked, flaming flower; till I break to
a handful of cinders,
And open my eyes to the scarf, shining blue in the afternoon sunshine.
How loud clocks can tick when a room is empty, and one is alone!
Scheme | ABCDXXXXXABAXXCXDXAXX X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111110101101 011010011111010 111 110101100110111010 111010111011010011 01101111011011 111 0100100100111 011010 01111011000111010 11101001101011011 01111111110010110 111010100110101010 1001011001111001 1011011011110100111 111110010011001 0110 0101111100111010010 1010110101111 01110 0101110110100011 1111110111001101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,277 |
Words | 240 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 21, 1 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 46 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 502 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 119 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 1:12 min read
- 158 Views
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"The Blue Scarf" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2298/the-blue-scarf>.
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