Analysis of Only Roses
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
To a garden full of posies
Cometh one to gather flowers;
And he wanders through its bowers
Toying with the wanton roses,
Who, uprising from their beds,
Hold on high their shameless heads
With their pretty lips a-pouting,
Never doubting - never doubting
That for Cytherean posies
He would gather aught but roses.
In a nest of weeds and nettles,
Lay a violet, half hidden;
Hoping that his glance unbidden
Yet might fall upon her petals.
Though she lived alone, apart,
Hope lay nestling at her heart,
But, alas! the cruel awaking
Set her little heart a-breaking,
For he gathered for his posies
Only roses - only roses!
Scheme | AAAAAABBAA ACCADDBBAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (40%) |
Metre | 1010111 10111010 01101110 10101010 1010111 1111101 11101010 10101010 1111 11101110 00111010 10100110 101111 11101010 1110101 1110101 1010101 10101010 1110111 10101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 604 |
Words | 110 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 244 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 08, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 101 Views
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"Only Roses" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41253/only-roses>.
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