Analysis of In The Gardens Of Shushan

Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall 1883 (Gunnersbury, London) – 1922 (Vancouver)



BE pitiful ! Her lips have touched this cool
Clear stream that sets the long green leaves astir.
The very doves that dream beside the pool
Sang their soft notes to her.

For her these doors that claim the amorous south,
Bound in red bronze and stayed with cedar-wood.
And here the bees sought honey from her mouth,
So like a flower she stood.

For her the globed pomegranates grew, and all
Sweet savoury fruits rose perfect from their flower.
Here has her soul known silence and the fall
Of each enchanted hour.

Under her feet all beauty was laid low,
In her deep eyes all beauty was made clear.
When the king called her through the evening glow,
'O Vashti, I am here !'

Still the sweet wells return to me her face,
Still her lost name on every wind is blown.
The shadows and the silence of this place
Are hers alone.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EBEB FBFB GHGH
Poetic Form Quatrain  (80%)
Etheree  (25%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1100011111 111101111 0101110101 111110 10111101001 1011011101 0101110101 1101011 10011101 1111011110 1101110001 1101010 1001110111 0011110111 1011010101 110111 1011011101 10111100111 010010111 1001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 814
Words 155
Sentences 12
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 128
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
115

Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall

Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall, was a Canadian writer who was born in England but lived in Canada from the time she was seven. She was once "thought to be the best Canadian poet of her generation." more…

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