Analysis of One And Two

Will Carleton 1845 (Hudson) – 1912



I.
    If you to me be cold,
    Or I be false to you,
    The world will go on, I think,
    Just as it used to do;
    The clouds will flirt with the moon,
    The sun will kiss the sea,
    The wind to the trees will whisper,
    And laugh at you and me;
    But the sun will not shine so bright,
    The clouds will not seem so white,
    To one, as they will to two;
    So I think you had better be kind,
    And I had best be true,
    And let the old love go on,
    Just as it used to do.

II.
    If the whole of a page be read,
    If a book be finished through,
    Still the world may read on, I think,
    Just as it used to do;
    For other lovers will con
    The pages that we have passed,
    And the treacherous gold of the binding
    Will glitter unto the last.
    But lids have a lonely look,
    And one may not read the book--
    It opens only to two;
    So I think you had better be kind,
    And I had best be true,
    And let the reading go on,
    Just as it used to do.

III.
    If we who have sailed together
    Flit out of each other's view,
    The world will sail on, I think,
    Just as it used to do;
    And we may reckon by stars
    That flash from different skies,
    And another of love's pirates
    May capture my lost prize;
    But ships long time together
    Can better the tempest weather
    Than any other two;
    So I think you had better be kind,
    And I had best be true,
    That we together may sail,
    Just as we used to do.


Scheme axbcBxdedffbGBhB axbcBhixijjbGBhB aebcBxkxkeebGBxb
Poetic Form
Metre 1 111111 111111 0111111 111111 0111101 011101 01101110 011101 10111111 0111111 1111111 111111011 011111 0101111 111111 1 10110111 1011101 10111111 111111 1101011 0101111 0010011010 1101001 1110101 0111101 1101011 111111011 011111 0101011 111111 1 11111010 1111101 0111111 111111 0111011 1111001 00101110 110111 1111010 11001010 110101 111111011 011111 1101011 111111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,444
Words 283
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 16, 16, 16
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 327
Words per stanza (avg) 94
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Submitted by naama on July 15, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:25 min read
12

Will Carleton

William McKendree Carleton (October 21, 1845 – December 18, 1912) was an American poet from Michigan. more…

All Will Carleton poems | Will Carleton Books

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