Analysis of Widow McFarlane

Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)



I was the Widow McFarlane,
Weaver of carpets for all the village.
And I pity you still at the loom of life,
You who are singing to the shuttle
And lovingly watching the work of your hands,
If you reach the day of hate, of terrible truth.
For the cloth of life is woven, you know,
To a pattern hidden under the loom --
A pattern you never see!
And you weave high-hearted, singing, singing,
You guard the threads of love and friendship
For noble figures in gold and purple.
And long after other eyes can see
You have woven a moon-white strip of cloth,
You laugh in your strength, for Hope overlays it
With shapes of love and beauty.
The loom stops short! The pattern's out!
You're alone in the room! You have woven a shroud!
And hate of it lays you in it!


Scheme ABCDEFGHIJKDILMINOM
Poetic Form
Metre 11010010 1011011010 01101110111 111101010 01001001111 111011111001 1011111011 1010101001 0101101 0111101010 110111010 1101001010 011010111 1110011111 1101111101 1111010 0111011 101001111001 01111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 743
Words 147
Sentences 11
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 19
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 582
Words per stanza (avg) 145
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
39

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist. more…

All Edgar Lee Masters poems | Edgar Lee Masters Books

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