Analysis of Perfidy
David Herbert Lawrence 1885 (Eastwood, Nottinghamshire) – 1930 (Vence)
Hollow rang the house when I knocked on the door,
And I lingered on the threshold with my hand
Upraised to knock and knock once more:
Listening for the sound of her feet across the floor,
Hollow re-echoed my heart.
The low-hung lamps stretched down the road
With shadows drifting underneath,
With a music of soft, melodious feet
Quickening my hope as I hastened to meet
The low-hung light of her eyes.
The golden lamps down the street went out,
The last car trailed the night behind;
And I in the darkness wandered about
With a flutter of hope and of dark-shut doubt
In the dying lamp of my love.
Two brown ponies trotting slowly
Stopped at a dim-lit trough to drink:
The dark van drummed down the distance slowly;
While the city stars so dim and holy
Drew nearer to search through the streets.
A hastening car swept shameful past,
I saw her hid in the shadow,
I saw her step to the curb, and fast
Run to the silent door, where last
I had stood with my hand uplifted.
She clung to the door in her haste to enter,
Entered, and quickly cast
It shut behind her, leaving the street aghast.
Scheme | AXAAX XXBBX CXCCX DXDDX EXEEXXEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101111101 0110101111 1110111 1001011010101 1011011 01111101 111001 10101101001 10011111011 0111101 010110111 01110101 0100101001 10101101111 00101111 11101010 11011111 0111101010 1010111010 11011101 010011101 1101001 110110101 11010111 111111100 11101001110 100101 11010100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,098 |
Words | 205 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 8 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 80 Views
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"Perfidy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7864/perfidy>.
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