Analysis of Despair
Ada Cambridge 1844 (St Germans, Norfolk) – 1926 (Melbourne)
Alone! Alone! No beacon, far or near!
No chart, no compass, and no anchor stay!
Like melting fog the mirage melts away
In all-surrounding darkness, void and clear.
Drifting, I spread vain hands, and vainly peer
And vainly call for pilot, -- weep and pray;
Beyond these limits not the faintest ray
Shows distant coast whereto the lost may steer.
O what is life, if we must hold it thus
As wind-blown sparks hold momentary fire?
What are these gifts without the larger boon?
O what is art, or wealth, or fame to us
Who scarce have time to know what we desire?
O what is love, if we must part so soon?
Scheme | ABBAABBA CDECDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Petrarchan sonnet |
Metre | 0101110111 1111001101 1101001101 0101010101 1011110101 0101110101 0111010101 110110111 1111111111 1111110010 1111010101 1111111111 11111111010 1111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 630 |
Words | 115 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 230 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 51 Views
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"Despair" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54/despair>.
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