Analysis of The Little Ghost
Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)
I knew her for a little ghost
That in my garden walked;
The wall is high—higher than most—
And the green gate was locked.
And yet I did not think of that
Till after she was gone—
I knew her by the broad white hat,
All ruffled, she had on.
By the dear ruffles round her feet,
By her small hands that hung
In their lace mitts, austere and sweet,
Her gown's white folds among.
I watched to see if she would stay,
What she would do—and oh!
She looked as if she liked the way
I let my garden grow!
She bent above my favourite mint
With conscious garden grace,
She smiled and smiled—there was no hint
Of sadness in her face.
She held her gown on either side
To let her slippers show,
And up the walk she went with pride,
The way great ladies go.
And where the wall is built in new
And is of ivy bare
She paused—then opened and passed through
A gate that once was there.
Scheme | AXAX BXBX CDCD EFEF GHGH IFIF JKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (71%) |
Metre | 11010101 101101 01111011 001111 01111111 110111 11010111 110111 10110101 101111 01110101 011101 11111111 111101 11111101 111101 1101111 110101 11011111 110001 11011101 110101 01011111 011101 01011101 011101 11110011 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 898 |
Words | 175 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 76 Views
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