Analysis of The Wedding Ring
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
I pawned my sick wife's wedding ring,
To drink and make myself a beast.
I got the most that it would bring,
Of golden coins the very least.
With stealth into her room I crept
And stole it from her as she slept.
I do not think that she will know,
As in its place I left a band
Of brass that has a brighter glow
And gleamed upon her withered hand.
I do not think that she can tell
The change - she does not see too well.
Pray God, she doesn't find me out.
I'd rather far I would be dead.
Yet yesterday she seemed to doubt,
And looking at me long she said:
"My finger must have shrunk, because
My ring seems bigger than it was."
She gazed at it so wistfully,
And one big tear rolled down her cheek.
Said she: "You'll bury it with me . . ."
I was so moved I could not speak.
Oh wretched me! How whisky can
Bring out the devil in a man!"
And yet I know she loves me still,
As on the morn that we were wed;
And darkly guess I also will
Be doomed the day that she is dead.
And yet I swear, before she's gone,
I will retrieve her ring from pawn.
I'll get it though I have to steal,
Then when to ease her bitter pain
They give her sleep oh I will feel
Her hand and slip it on again;
Through tears her wasted face I'll see,
And pray to God: "Oh pity me!"
Scheme | ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHXX IJIJKK LHLHMM NXNXII |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101 1101101 11011111 11010101 11010111 01110111 11111111 10111101 11110101 01010101 11111111 01111111 11110111 11011111 1101111 01011111 11011101 11110111 11111100 01111101 11110111 11111111 11011101 11010001 01111111 11011101 01011101 11011111 01110111 11010111 11111111 11110101 11011111 01011101 11010111 01111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,217 |
Words | 265 |
Sentences | 19 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 156 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 142 Views
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"The Wedding Ring" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32682/the-wedding-ring>.
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