Analysis of A Red Flower
Claude McKay 1889 (Clarendon Parish) – 1948 (Chicago)
Your lips are like a southern lily red,
Wet with the soft rain-kisses of the night,
In which the brown bee buries deep its head,
When still the dawn's a silver sea of light.
Your lips betray the secret of your soul,
The dark delicious essence that is you,
A mystery of life, the flaming goal
I seek through mazy pathways strange and new.
Your lips are the red symbol of a dream,
What visions of warm lilies they impart,
That line the green bank of a fair blue stream,
With butterflies and bees close to each heart!
Brown bees that murmur sounds of music rare,
That softly fall upon the langourous breeze,
Wafting them gently on the quiet air
Among untended avenues of trees.
O were I hovering, a bee, to probe
Deep down within your scented heart, fair flower,
Enfolded by your soft vermilion robe,
Amorous of sweets, for but one perfect hour!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Traditional rhyme Quatrain |
Metre | 1111010101 1101110101 0101110111 1101010111 1101010111 0101010111 0100110101 11111101 1110110101 1101110101 1101110111 110011111 1111011101 110101011 1011010101 0111011 1011000111 11011101110 11110101 100111110110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 850 |
Words | 157 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 133 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 295 Views
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