Analysis of My Sister's Sleep
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828 (London) – 1882 (Birchington-on-Sea)
She fell asleep on Christmas Eve:
At length the long-ungranted shade
Of weary eyelids overweigh'd
The pain nought else might yet relieve.
Our mother, who had lean'd all day
Over the bed from chime to chime,
Then rais'd herself for the first time,
And as she sat her down, did pray.
Her little work-table was spread
With work to finish. For the glare
Made by her candle, she had care
To work some distance from the bed.
Without, there was a cold moon up,
Of winter radiance sheer and thin;
The hollow halo it was in
Was like an icy crystal cup.
Through the small room, with subtle sound
Of flame, by vents the fireshine drove
And redden'd. In its dim alcove
The mirror shed a clearness round.
I had been sitting up some nights,
And my tired mind felt weak and blank;
Like a sharp strengthening wine it drank
The stillness and the broken lights.
Twelve struck. That sound, by dwindling years
Heard in each hour, crept off; and then
The ruffled silence spread again,
Like water that a pebble stirs.
Our mother rose from where she sat:
Her needles, as she laid them down,
Met lightly, and her silken gown
Settled: no other noise than that.
"Glory unto the Newly Born!"
So, as said angels, she did say;
Because we were in Christmas Day,
Though it would still be long till morn.
Just then in the room over us
There was a pushing back of chairs,
As some who had sat unawares
So late, now heard the hour, and rose.
With anxious softly-stepping haste
Our mother went where Margaret lay,
Fearing the sounds o'erhead--should they
Have broken her long watch'd-for rest!
She stoop'd an instant, calm, and turn'd;
But suddenly turn'd back again;
And all her features seem'd in pain
With woe, and her eyes gaz'd and yearn'd.
For my part, I but hid my face,
And held my breath, and spoke no word:
There was none spoken; but I heard
The silence for a little space.
Our mother bow'd herself and wept:
And both my arms fell, and I said,
"God knows I knew that she was dead."
And there, all white, my sister slept.
Then kneeling, upon Christmas morn
A little after twelve o'clock
We said, ere the first quarter struck,
"Christ's blessing on the newly born!"
Scheme | ABBA CDDC EFFE GHHG IJJI KLLK XMMX NOON PCCP XQQX XCCX RMXR STTS UEEU PXXP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) Etheree (28%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11011101 110111 11011 01111101 101011111 10011111 11011011 01110111 01011011 11110101 11010111 11110101 01110111 110100101 01010110 11110101 10111101 1111011 010111 0101011 11110111 011011101 101100111 01000101 111111001 101101101 01010101 11010101 101011111 01011111 11000101 10110111 10100101 11110111 01100101 11111111 11001101 11010111 1111101 111101001 11010101 1010111001 1001111 11001111 11110101 11001101 01010101 11001101 11111111 01110111 11110111 01010101 101010101 01111011 11111111 01111101 11001101 01010101 11101101 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,401 |
Words | 396 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 15 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 110 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 2:02 min read
- 183 Views
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"My Sister's Sleep" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7581/my-sister%27s-sleep>.
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