Analysis of Edith Conant
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
We stand about this place -- we, the memories;
And shade our eyes because we dread to read:
"June 17th, 1884, aged 21 years and 3 days."
And all things are changed.
And we -- we, the memories, stand here for ourselves alone,
For no eye marks us, or would know why we are here.
Your husband is dead, your sister lives far away,
Your father is bent with age;
He has forgotten you, he scarcely leaves the house
Any more.
No one remembers your exquisite face,
Your lyric voice!
How you sang, even on the morning you were stricken,
With piercing sweetness, with thrilling sorrow,
Before the advent of the child which died with you.
It is all forgotten, save by us, the memories,
Who are forgotten by the world.
All is changed, save the river and the hill --
Even they are changed.
Only the burning sun and the quiet stars are the same.
And we -- we, the memories, stand here in awe,
Our eyes closed with the weariness of tears --
In immeasurable weariness!
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOAPQDRSTU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011110100 01101011111 1111101 01111 011010011100101 111111111111 110111101101 1101111 110101110101 101 1101011001 1101 1111010101010 1101011010 01011011111 1110101110100 11010101 1111010001 10111 10010100101101 01101001101 10111010011 00100100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 937 |
Words | 181 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 23 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 727 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 178 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 66 Views
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