Analysis of Leaves Compared with Flowers
Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)
A tree's leaves may be ever so good,
So may its bar, so may its wood;
But unless you put the right thing to its root
It never will show much flower or fruit.
But I may be one who does not care
Ever to have tree bloom or bear.
Leaves for smooth and bark for rough,
Leaves and bark may be tree enough.
Some giant trees have bloom so small
They might as well have none at all.
Late in life I have come on fern.
Now lichens are due to have their turn.
I bade men tell me which in brief,
Which is fairer, flower or leaf.
They did not have the wit to say,
Leaves by night and flowers by day.
Leaves and bar, leaves and bark,
To lean against and hear in the dark.
Petals I may have once pursued.
Leaves are all my darker mood.
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 011111011 11111111 10111011111 1101111011 111111111 10111111 1110111 10111101 11011111 11111111 10111111 110111111 11111101 11101011 11110111 11101011 101101 110101001 10111101 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 708 |
Words | 152 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 110 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 305 Views
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"Leaves Compared with Flowers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30874/leaves-compared-with-flowers>.
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