Analysis of Come Back to St Andrews



Come back to St. Andrews! Before you went away
You said you would be wretched where you could not see the Bay,
The East sands and the West sands and the castle in the sea
Come back to St. Andrews--St. Andrews and me.

Oh, it's dreary along South Street when the rain is coming down,
And the east wind makes the student draw more close his warm red gown,
As I often saw you do, when I watched you going by
On the stormy days to College, from my window up on high.

I wander on the Lade Braes, where I used to walk with you,
And purple are the woods of Mount Melville, budding new,
But I cannot bear to look, for the tears keep coming so,
And the Spring has lost the freshness which it had a year ago.

Yet often I could fancy, where the pathway takes a turn,
I shall see you in a moment, coming round beside the burn,
Coming round beside the burn, with your swinging step and free,
And your face lit up with pleasure at the sudden sight of me.

Beyond the Rock and Spindle, where we watched the water clear
In the happy April sunshine, with a happy sound to hear,
There I sat this afternoon, but no hand was holding mine,
And the water sounded eerie, though the April sun did shine.

Oh, why should I complain of what I know was bound to be?
For you had your way to make, and you must not think of me.
But a woman's heart is weak, and a woman's joys are few -
There are times when I could die for a moment's sight of you.

It may be you will come again, before my hair is grey
As the sea is in the twilight of a weary winter's day.
When success is grown a burden, and your heart would fain be free,
Come back to St. Andrews--St. Andrews and me.


Scheme aabB ccdd eeff ggbb xxhh bbee aabB
Poetic Form Quatrain  (86%)
Metre 11111011101 11111101111101 01100110010001 111111101 111001111011101 001110101111111 11101111111101 101011101110111 11010111111111 0101011110101 11101111011101 001110101110101 1101110101101 111100101010101 10101011110101 011111101010111 01010101110101 00101011010111 1111011111101 001010101010111 11110111111111 11111110111111 10101110010111 11111111010111 11111101011111 10110011010101 101110100111111 111111101
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,618
Words 332
Sentences 17
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 45
Words per line (avg) 12
Letters per stanza (avg) 179
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

1:41 min read
49

Robert Fuller Murray

Robert Fuller Murray, was a Victorian poet. more…

All Robert Fuller Murray poems | Robert Fuller Murray Books

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