Analysis of To Juan at the Winter Solstice
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
There is one story and one story only
That will prove worth your telling,
Whether as learned bard or gifted child;
To it all lines or lesser gauds belong
That startle with their shining
Such common stories as they stray into.
Is it of trees you tell, their months and virtues,
Or strange beasts that beset you,
Of birds that croak at you the Triple will?
Or of the Zodiac and how slow it turns
Below the Boreal Crown,
Prison to all true kings that ever reigned?
Water to water, ark again to ark,
From woman back to woman:
So each new victim treads unfalteringly
The never altered circuit of his fate,
Bringing twelve peers as witness
Both to his starry rise and starry fall.
Or is it of the Virgin's silver beauty,
All fish below the thighs?
She in her left hand bears a leafy quince;
When, with her right hand she crooks a finger, smiling,
How many the King hold back?
Royally then he barters life for love.
Or of the undying snake from chaos hatched,
Whose coils contain the ocean,
Into whose chops with naked sword he springs,
Then in black water, tangled by the reeds,
Battles three days and nights,
To be spewed up beside her scalloped shore?
Much snow is falling, winds roar hollowly,
The owl hoots from the elder,
Fear in your heart cries to the loving-cup:
Sorrow to sorrow as the sparks fly upward.
The log groans and confesses:
There is one story and one story only.
Dwell on her graciousness, dwell on her smiling,
Do not forget what flowers
The great boar trampled down in ivy time.
Her brow was creamy as the crested wave,
Her sea-blue eyes were wild
But nothing promised that is not performed.
Scheme | Abcxbd xdxxxx xeaxxx axxbxx xexxxx axxxxA bxxxcx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110011010 1111110 101111101 1111110101 1101110 1101011101 11111111010 1111011 1111110101 1101001111 01011 1011111101 1011010111 1101110 1111011 0101010111 1011110 1111010101 11110101010 110101 1001110101 110111101010 1100111 100111111 11001011101 1101010 0111110111 1011010101 101101 1111010101 11110111 0111010 1011110101 10110101110 0110010 11110011010 11010011010 1101110 0111010101 0111010101 011101 1101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,574 |
Words | 297 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 181 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 21, 2023
- 1:29 min read
- 151 Views
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"To Juan at the Winter Solstice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31211/to-juan-at-the-winter-solstice>.
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