Analysis of Love and Folly
William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)
Love's worshippers alone can know
The thousand mysteries that are his;
His blazing torch, his twanging bow,
His blooming age are mysteries.
A charming science--but the day
Were all too short to con it o'er;
So take of me this little lay,
A sample of its boundless lore.
As once, beneath the fragrant shade
Of myrtles breathing heaven's own air,
The children, Love and Folly, played--
A quarrel rose betwixt the pair.
Love said the gods should do him right--
But Folly vowed to do it then,
And struck him, o'er the orbs of sight,
So hard, he never saw again.
His lovely mother's grief was deep,
She called for vengeance on the deed;
A beauty does not vainly weep,
Nor coldly does a mother plead.
A shade came o'er the eternal bliss
That fills the dwellers of the skies;
Even stony-hearted Nemesis,
And Rhadamanthus, wiped their eyes.
"Behold," she said, "this lovely boy,"
While streamed afresh her graceful tears,
"Immortal, yet shut out from joy
And sunshine, all his future years.
The child can never take, you see,
A single step without a staff--
The harshest punishment would be
Too lenient for the crime by half."
All said that Love had suffered wrong,
And well that wrong should be repaid;
Then weighed the public interest long,
And long the party's interest weighed.
And thus decreed the court above--
"Since Love is blind from Folly's blow,
Let Folly be the guide of Love,
Where'er the boy may choose to go."
Scheme | AXXXBXBX CDCDEFEF GHGH IJIJ KXKXLMLM NCNCOAOA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (33%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11000111 010100111 1101111 11011100 01010101 011111110 11111101 01011101 11010101 110101011 01010101 01010101 11011111 11011111 011100111 11110101 11010111 11110101 01011101 11010101 0111000101 11010101 101010100 01111 01111101 11010101 01011111 0111101 01110111 01010101 01010011 110010111 11111101 01111101 11010101 01010101 01010101 1111111 11010111 10011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,385 |
Words | 256 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 4, 4, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 183 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 28 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Love and Folly" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40299/love-and-folly>.
Discuss this William Cullen Bryant poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In