Analysis of Pot And Kettle
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
Come close to me, dear Annie, while I bind a lover's knot.
A tale of burning love between a kettle and a pot.
The pot was stalwart iron and the kettle trusty tin,
And though their sides were black with smoke they bubbled love within.
Forget that kettle, Jamie, and that pot of boiling broth,
I know a dismal story of a candle and a moth.
For while your pot is boiling and while your kettle sings
My moth makes love to candle flame and burns away his wings.
Your moth, I envy, Annie, that died by candle flame,
But here are two more lovers, unto no damage came.
There was a cuckoo loved a clock and found her always true.
For every hour they told their hearts, 'Ring! ting! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!'
As the pot boiled for the kettle, as the kettle for the pot,
So boils my love within me till my breast is glowing hot.
As the moth died for the candle, so could I die for you.
And my fond heart beats time with yours and cries, 'Cuckoo! Cuckoo!'
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEFF AAFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11111101110101 01110101010001 01110100010101 01110111110101 01110100111101 11010101010001 1111110011101 11111101010111 1111010111101 1111110101101 110110101011 11001011111111 101110101010101 11110111111101 10111010111111 011111110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 927 |
Words | 186 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 45 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 55 sec read
- 112 Views
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