Analysis of To Sydney
Louise Mack 1870 (Hobart) – 1935
CITY, I never told you yet—
O little City, let me tell—
A secret woven of your wiles,
Dear City with the angel face,
And you will hear with frowning grace,
Or will you break in summer smiles?
This is the secret, little town,
Lying so lightly towards the sea;
City, my secret has no art,
Dear City with the golden door;
But oh, the whispers I would pour
Into your ears—into your heart!
You are my lover, little place,
Lying so sweetly all alone.
And yet I cannot, cannot tell
My secret, for the voice will break
That tries to tell of all the ache
Of this poor heart beneath your spell.
Dreaming, I tell you all my tale;
Tell how the tides that wash your feet
Sink through my heart and cut its cords.
Dreaming, I hold my arms, and drag
All, all into my heart—the flag
On the low hill turned harbourwards,
And all the curving little bays,
The hot, dust-ridden, narrow streets,
The languid turquoise of the sky,
The gardens flowing to the wave,
I drag them in. O City, save
The grave for me where I must lie.
Yet humbly I would try to build
Stone upon stone for this town’s sake;
Humbly would try for you to aid
Those whose wise love for you will rear
White monuments far off and near,
White, but unsoiled, undesecrate.
Scheme | ABCDDC XXEFFE DXBGGB XXXHHC XXIJJI XGXKKA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10110111 11010111 01010111 11010101 01111101 11110101 11010101 101100101 10110111 11010101 11010111 01110111 11110101 10110101 01110101 11010111 11111101 11110111 10111111 11011111 11110111 10111101 11011101 101111 01010101 01110101 01010101 01010101 11101101 01111111 11011111 10111111 10111111 11111111 11001101 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,387 |
Words | 234 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 156 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:10 min read
- 70 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To Sydney" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26195/to-sydney>.
Discuss this Louise Mack 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