Analysis of To Harriet
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)
Thy look of love has power to calm
The stormiest passion of my soul;
Thy gentle words are drops of balm
In life's too bitter bowl;
No grief is mine, but that alone
These choicest blessings I have known.
Harriet! if all who long to live
In the warm sunshine of thine eye,
That price beyond all pain must give,-
Beneath thy scorn to die;
Then hear thy chosen own too late
His heart most worthy of thy hate.
Be thou, then, one among mankind
Whose heart is harder not for state,
Thou only virtuous, gentle, kind,
Amid a world of hate;
And by a slight endurance seal
A fellow-being's lasting weal.
For pale with anguish is his cheek,
His breath comes fast, his eyes are dim,
Thy name is struggling ere he speak,
Weak is each trembling limb;
In mercy let him not endure
The misery of a fatal cure.
Oh, trust for once no erring guide!
Bid the remorseless feeling flee;
'Tis malice, 'tis revenge, 'tis pride,
'Tis anything but thee;
Oh, deign a nobler pride to prove,
And pity if thou canst not love.
Scheme | ABABCC XDXDEE FEFEXB GHGHII JKJKXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111111011 010010111 11011111 011101 11111101 11010111 100111111 0011111 11011111 011111 11110111 11110111 11110111 11110111 110100101 010111 01011001 01010101 11110111 11111111 111100111 1111001 01011101 010010101 11111101 10010101 11010111 11011 11010111 01011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 971 |
Words | 190 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 153 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 30, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 95 Views
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