Analysis of When!
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
WHEN I am young again I'll hoard my bliss,
Nor deem that inexhaustible it is,
Remembering old age comes after this,
Joy grows to pain;
Nor waste one moment of youth's rose-sweet hours,
Nor trample one of all its countless flowers,
But drink the summer sun and soft spring showers,
When I am young again.
I will be wise with wisdom dearly won
By those who through life's wood have nearly run;
Learn what to do, and what to leave undone,
Risk or refrain.
I will not seek into my mouth to take
The bitter apple of the acrid lake,
But at clear fountains all my thirsts will slake,
When I am young again.
I will not brush the bloom to reach the core,
Remembering how it chanced with me before,
And bloom once lost returns not any more,
Hard cores remain:
I will fence round with prudence and secure
A lasting bloom whose freshness shall endure;
Oh, I will guard my peach of youth, be sure,
When I am young again.
When I am young again, I'll spend no breath
On bitter words the heart remembereth
When bitterness is swallowed up by Death
Holding sole reign;
I'll love so well that if they pass to sleep
Before me, I shall have no watch to keep
Over their tears-only my tears to weep
When I am young again.
I will not lightly joy nor idly grieve,
Nor for a heaven itself one soul deceive,
Nor will I be deceived, vainly believe,
Nor love in vain.
Come back, lost youth! Ah, Fate, that one gift give!
Then I will show that I have learned to live;
Youth shall be wise--and two and two make five--
When I am young again!
Scheme | axabcccD eeebfffD gggbhhhD iiibjjjD kkkbxllD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (25%) Etheree (23%) |
Metre | 1111011111 1110010011 0100111101 1111 11110111110 11011111010 11010101110 111101 1111110101 1111111101 1111011101 1101 1111011111 0101010101 1111011111 111101 1111011101 01001111101 0111011101 1101 1111110001 0101110101 1111111111 111101 1111011111 1101011 1100110111 1011 1111111111 0111111111 1011101111 111101 1111011101 11010011101 1111011001 1101 1111111111 1111111111 1111010111 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,517 |
Words | 291 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 234 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 58 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 118 Views
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"When!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9057/when%21>.
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