Analysis of The Nursing Sister
Our sister sayeth such and such,
And we must bow to her behests.
Our sister toileth overmuch,
Our little maid that hath no breasts.
A field untilled, a web unwove,
A flower withheld from sun or bee,
An alien in the Courts of Love,
And--teacher unto such as we!
We love her, but we laugh the while,
We laugh, but sobs are mixed with laughter;
Our sister hath no time to smile,
She knows not what must follow after.
Wind of the South, arise and blow,
From beds of spice thy locks shake free;
Breathe on her heart that she may know,
Breathe on her eyes that she may see!
Alas! we vex her with our mirth,
And maze her with most tender scorn,
Who stands beside the Gates of Birth,
Herself a child--a child unborn!
Our sister sayeth such and such,
And we must bow to her behests.
Our sister toileth overmuch,
Our little maid that hath no breasts.
Scheme | ABAB cdcd efef gdgb hihi ABAB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 10101101 0111101 101011 101011111 011011 010011111 110000111 01010111 11011101 111111110 101011111 111111010 11010101 11111111 11011111 11011111 011101101 01011101 11010111 01010111 10101101 0111101 101011 101011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 843 |
Words | 164 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 21, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 120 Views
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"The Nursing Sister" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33511/the-nursing-sister>.
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