Analysis of The Depths Of The Sea
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
FOR A PICTURE BY E. BURNE JONES
Habes tota quod mente petisti
Infelix.
IN deep vague spaces of the lonely sea
She deemed her soulless life was almost fair,
Yet ever dreamed that in the upper air
Lay happiness--supreme in mystery;
Then saw him--out of reach as you I see--
Worshipped his strength, the brown breast broad and bare,
The arms that bent the oar, and grew aware
Of what life means, and why it is good to be;
And yearned for him with all her body sweet,
Her lithe cold arms, and chill wet bosom's beat,
Vowed him her beauty's unillumined shrine:
So I--seeing you above me--turn and tire,
Sick with an empty ache of long desire
To drag you down, to hold you, make you mine!
Attained at last--the lifelong longing's prize!
Raped from the world of air where warm loves glow,
She bears him through her water-world below;
Yet in those strange, glad, fair, mysterious eyes
The shadow of the after-sorrow lies,
And of the coming hour, when she shall know
What she has lost in having gained him so,
And whether death life's longing satisfies.
She shall find out the meaning of despair,
And know the anguish of a granted prayer,
And how, all ended, all is yet undone.
So I--I long for what, far off, you shine,
Not what you must be ere you could be mine,
That which would crown despair if it were won.
Scheme | A BA CDDCCDDCBBEFFE GHHGGHHGDDIEEI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101111 110111 1 0111010101 110101111 1101100101 1100010100 1111111111 1011011101 0111010101 11110111111 0111110101 011101111 110111 111010111010 11110111010 1111111111 011101111 1101111111 1111010101 10111101001 011010101 01010101111 1111010111 010111010 1111010101 0101010101 0111011101 1111111111 1111111111 1111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,312 |
Words | 245 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 251 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 61 Views
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