Analysis of Sonnets 11: As To Some Lovely Temple, Tenantless

Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)



As to some lovely temple, tenantless
Long since, that once was sweet with shivering brass,
Knowing well its altars ruined and the grass
Grown up between the stones, yet from excess
Of grief hard driven, or great loneliness,
The worshiper returns, and those who pass
Marvel him crying on a name that was,—
So is it now with me in my distress.
Your body was a temple to Delight;
Cold are its ashes whence the breath is fled,
Yet here one time your spirit was wont to move;
Here might I hope to find you day or night,
And here I come to look for you, my love,
Even now, foolishly, knowing you are dead.


Scheme AAAAAAAABCDBEC
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101 11111111001 10111010001 110101111 1111011100 0100010111 1011010111 1111110101 1101010101 1111010111 11111101111 1111111111 0111111111 10110010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 596
Words 118
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 466
Words per stanza (avg) 115
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
63

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet and playwright. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923, the third woman to win the award for poetry, and was also known for her feminist activism more…

All Edna St. Vincent Millay poems | Edna St. Vincent Millay Books

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