Analysis of I Would I Were the Glow-Worm
Mathilde Blind 1841 (Mannheim) – 1896 (London)
I would I were the glow-worm, thou the flower,
That I might fill thy cup with glimmering light;
I would I were the bird, and thou the bower,
To sing thee songs throughout the summer night.
I would I were a pine tree deeply rooted,
And thou the lofty, cloud-beleaguered rock,
Still, while the blasts of heaven around us hooted,
To cleave to thee and weather every shock.
I would I were the rill, and thou the river;
So might I, leaping from some headlong steep,
With all my waters lost in thine for ever,
Be hurried onwards to the unfathomed deep.
I would--what would I not? O foolish dreaming!
My words are but as leaves by autumn shed,
That, in the faded moonlight idly gleaming,
Drop on the grave where all our love lies dead.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC ADAD EFEF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11100111010 11111111001 11100101010 1111010101 11100111010 0101010101 110111001110 11110101001 11100101010 111101111 11110101110 110101011 11111111010 1111111101 1001011010 11011110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 736 |
Words | 138 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 09, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 91 Views
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"I Would I Were the Glow-Worm" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/27001/i-would-i-were-the-glow-worm>.
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