Analysis of A Curate's Complaint.
Edward Woodley Bowling 1837 (Nice,) – 1907 (Ealing, London, )
Where are they all departed,
The loved ones of my youth,
Those emblems white of purity,
Sweet innocence and truth?
When day-light drives the darkness,
When evening melts to night,
When noon-day suns burn brightest,
They come not to my sight.
I miss their pure embraces
Around my neck and throat,
The thousand winning graces
Whereon I used to dote.
I know I may find markets
Where love is bought and sold,
But no such love can equal
The tender ties of old.
My gentle washer-woman,
I know that you are true;
The least shade of suspicion
Can never fall on you.
Then fear me not, as fiercely
I fix on thee stern eyes,
And ask in terms emphatic,
"Where are my lost white ties?"
Each year I buy a dozen,
Yet scarce a year is gone,
Ere, looking in my ward-robe,
I find that I have none.
I don't believe in magic,
I know that you are true,
Yet say, my washer-woman,
What can those white ties do?
Does each with her own collar
To regions far elope,
Regions by starch untainted,
And innocent of soap?
I know not; but in future
I'll buy no more white ties,
But wear the stiff 'all-rounder'
Of Ritualistic guise.
Scheme | xabaxcxc dedexfxf gHghbiji gxxgjHgh klxlkiki |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1111010 011111 11011100 110001 1111010 110111 1111110 111111 1111010 011101 0101010 11111 1111110 111101 1111110 010111 1101010 111111 0111010 110111 1111110 111111 0101010 111111 1111010 110111 1100111 111111 1101010 111111 1111010 111111 1110110 110101 1011010 010011 1111010 111111 1101110 100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,078 |
Words | 213 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 169 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 2 Views
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"A Curate's Complaint." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55068/a-curate%27s-complaint.>.
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