Analysis of The Old Witch in the Copse
Barry Cornwall 1787 (Leeds, Yorkshire) – 1874 (London)
I am a Witch, and a kind old Witch,
There's many a one knows that--
Alone I live in my little dark house
With Pillycock, my cat.
A girl came running through the night,
When all the winds blew free:--
"O mother, change a young man's heart
That will not look on me.
O mother, brew a magic mead
To stir his heart so cold."
"Just as you will, my dear," said I;
"And I thank you for your gold."
So here am I in the wattled copse
Where all the twigs are brown,
To find what I need to brew my mead
As the dark of night comes down.
Primroses in my old hands,
Sweet to smell and young,
And violets blue that spring in the grass
Wherever the larks have sung.
With celandines as heavenly crowns
Yellowy-gold and bright; All of these,
O all of these,
Shall bring her Love's delight.
But orchids growing snakey green
Speckled dark with blood,
And fallen leaves that curled and shrank
And rotted in the mud,
With blistering nettles burning harsh
And blinding thorns above;
All of these, O all of these
Shall bring the pains of Love.
Shall bring the pains of Love, my Puss,
That cease not night or day,
The bitter rage, nought can assuage
Till it bleeds the heart away.
Pillycock mine, my hands are full
My pot is on the fire.
Purr, my pet, this fool shall get
Her fool's desire.
Scheme | ABCBDEFEGHIHCJGJKLMLNOODPQRQSTOTUVWVXYZY |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (25%) |
Metre | 110100111 1100111 0111011011 1111 01110101 110111 11010111 111111 11010101 111111 11111111 0111111 111100101 110111 111111111 1011111 100111 11101 0100111001 0100111 1111001 1101111 1111 110101 1101011 10111 01011101 010001 110010101 010101 1111111 110111 11011111 111111 01011101 1110101 111111 1111010 1111111 01010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,233 |
Words | 250 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 40 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 968 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 244 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 57 Views
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