Analysis of Consider The Lilies Of The Field

Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



Flowers preach to us if we will hear:—
The rose saith in the dewy morn:
I am most fair;
Yet all my loveliness is born
Upon a thorn.
The poppy saith amid the corn:
Let but my scarlet head appear
And I am held in scorn;
Yet juice of subtle virtue lies
Within my cup of curious dyes.
The lilies say: Behold how we
Preach without words of purity.
The violets whisper from the shade
Which their own leaves have made:
Men scent our fragrance on the air,
Yet take no heed
Of humble lessons we would read.
But not alone the fairest flowers:
The merest grass
Along the roadside where we pass,
Lichen and moss and sturdy weed,
Tell of His love who sends the dew,
The rain and sunshine too,
To nourish one small seed.


Scheme ABCBBBDBEEFFGGCHIJKKHLLH
Poetic Form
Metre 101111111 01100101 1111 111111 0101 01010101 11110101 011101 11110101 011111001 01010111 10111100 010010101 111111 111010101 1111 11010111 110101010 0101 0101111 10010101 11111101 01011 110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 695
Words 140
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 24
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 551
Words per stanza (avg) 137
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

42 sec read
185

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. "Goblin Market" and "Remember" remain famous. She wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in the UK: "In the Bleak Midwinter", later set by Gustav Holst and by Harold Darke, and "Love Came Down at Christmas", set by Harold Darke and by other composers. more…

All Christina Georgina Rossetti poems | Christina Georgina Rossetti Books

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