Analysis of Memory
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
I nursed it in my bosom while it lived,
I hid it in my heart when it was dead;
In joy I sat alone, even so I grieved
Alone and nothing said.
I shut the door to face the naked truth,
I stood alone—I faced the truth alone,
Stripped bare of self-regard or forms or ruth
Till first and last were shown.
I took the perfect balances and weighed;
No shaking of my hand disturbed the poise;
Weighed, found it wanting: not a word I said,
But silent made my choice.
None know the choice I made; I make it still.
None know the choice I made and broke my heart,
Breaking mine idol: I have braced my will
Once, chosen for once my part.
I broke it at a blow, I laid it cold,
Crushed in my deep heart where it used to live.
My heart dies inch by inch; the time grows old,
Grows old in which I grieve.
I have a room whereinto no one enters
Save I myself alone:
There sits a blessed memory on a throne,
There my life centres.
While winter comes and goes—oh tedious comer!—
And while its nip-wind blows;
While bloom the bloodless lily and warm rose
Of lavish summer.
If any should force entrance he might see there
One buried yet not dead,
Before whose face I no more bow my head
Or bend my knee there;
But often in my worn life's autumn weather
I watch there with clear eyes,
And think how it will be in Paradise
When we're together.
Scheme | XAXA BCBC XXAX DEDE FXFX GCCG HIIH JAAJ HXXH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) |
Metre | 1110110111 1110111111 01110110111 010101 1101110101 1101110101 1111011111 110101 1100110001 1101110101 1111010111 110111 1101111111 1101110111 1011011111 1101111 1111011111 1011111111 1111110111 110111 110111110 11101 1101100101 11110 110101110010 011111 1101010011 11010 11011101111 110111 0111111111 11111 11001111010 111111 011111010 11010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,301 |
Words | 266 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 113 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 194 Views
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"Memory" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5863/memory>.
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