Analysis of Too Late

Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)



WHEN Love, sweet Love, was tangled in my snare
I clipped his wings, and dressed his cage with flowers,
Made him my little joy for little hours,
And fed him when I had a song to spare.
And then I saw how good life's good things were,
The kingdoms and the glories and the powers.
Flowers grew in sheaves and stars were shed in showers,
And, when the great things wearied, Love was there.

But when, within his cage, one winter day
I found him lying still with folded wings,
No longer fluttering, eager to be fed--
Kingdoms and powers and glories passed away,
And of life's countless, precious, priceless things
Nothing was left but Love--and Love was dead!


Scheme ABBAXBBA CDECDE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110011 11110111110 11110111010 0111110111 0111111110 01000100010 101010101010 0101110111 1101111101 1111011101 11010010111 10010010101 0111010101 1011110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 661
Words 121
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 255
Words per stanza (avg) 60
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
85

Edith Nesbit

Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 books of children's literature. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. more…

All Edith Nesbit poems | Edith Nesbit Books

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