Analysis of To Earthward
Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)
Love at the lips was touch
As sweet as I could bear;
And once that seemed too much;
I lived on air
That crossed me from sweet things,
The flow of - was it musk
From hidden grapevine springs
Down hill at dusk?
I had the swirl and ache
From sprays of honeysuckle
That when they're gathered shake
Dew on the knuckle.
I craved strong sweets, but those
Seemed strong when I was young;
The petal of the rose
It was that stung.
Now no joy but lacks salt
That is not dashed with pain
And weariness and fault;
I crave the stain
Of tears, the aftermark
Of almost too much love,
The sweet of bitter bark
And burning clove.
When stiff and sore and scarred
I take away my hand
From leaning on it hard
In grass and sand,
The hurt is not enough:
I long for weight and strength
To feel the earth as rough
To all my length.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ DKXK LMLM NONO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 110111 111111 011111 1111 111111 011111 11011 1111 110101 111100 111101 11010 111111 111111 010101 1111 111111 111111 010001 1101 1101 11111 011101 0101 110101 110111 110111 0101 011101 111101 110111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 814 |
Words | 163 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 79 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 191 Views
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"To Earthward" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/30944/to-earthward>.
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