Analysis of The World
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
By day she woos me, soft, exceeding fair:
But all night as the moon so changeth she;
Loathsome and foul with hideous leprosy
And subtle serpents gliding in her hair.
By day she woos me to the outer air,
Ripe fruits, sweet flowers, and full satiety:
But through the night, a beast she grins at me,
A very monster void of love and prayer.
By day she stands a lie: by night she stands
In all the naked horror of the truth
With pushing horns and clawed and clutching hands.
Is this a friend indeed; that I should sell
My soul to her, give her my life and youth,
Till my feet, cloven too, take hold on hell?
| Scheme | ABBAACBADEDFEF |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1111110101 111101111 10011100100 0101010001 1111110101 11110011 1101011111 0101011101 1111011111 0101010101 1101010101 1101011111 1110101101 111111111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 597 |
| Words | 120 |
| Sentences | 5 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 14 |
| Lines Amount | 14 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
| Words per line (avg) | 8 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 465 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 118 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
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"The World" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5957/the-world>.
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