Analysis of A Frog's Fate
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
Contemptuous of his home beyond
The village and the village-pond,
A large-souled Frog who spurned each byway
Hopped along the imperial highway.
Nor grunting pig nor barking dog
Could disconcert so great a Frog.
The morning dew was lingering yet,
His sides to cool, his tongue to wet:
The night-dew, when the night should come,
A travelled Frog would send him home.
Not so, alas! The wayside grass
Sees him no more: not so, alas!
A broad-wheeled waggon unawares
Ran him down, his joys, his cares.
From dying choke one feeble croak
The Frog's perpetual silence broke: -
‘Ye buoyant Frogs, ye great and small,
Even I am mortal after all!
My road to fame turns out a wry way;
I perish on the hideous highway;
Oh for my old familiar byway!’
The choking Frog sobbed and was gone;
The Waggoner strode whistling on.
Unconscious of the carnage done,
Whistling that Waggoner strode on -
Whistling (it may have happened so)
‘A froggy would a-wooing go.’
A hypothetic frog trolled he,
Obtuse to a reality.
O rich and poor, O great and small,
Such oversights beset us all.
The mangled Frog abides incog,
The uninteresting actual frog:
The hypothetic frog alone
Is the one frog we dwell upon.
Scheme | AABB CDEEXX FFGGHHIIBBB XJXJKKLL IICDXJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 010011101 01000101 01111111 101001001 11011101 1011101 010111001 11111111 01110111 01011111 1101011 11111101 011101 1111111 11011101 010100101 11011101 101110101 111111011 110101001 11110101 01011011 01001101 1010101 10110011 10111101 0110101 01111 011010 11011101 110111 0101011 001001001 01101 10111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,194 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 6, 11, 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 184 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 123 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Frog's Fate" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5703/a-frog%27s-fate>.
Discuss this Christina Georgina Rossetti poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In