Analysis of Wraith
Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)
"Thin Rain, whom are you haunting,
That you haunt my door?"
—Surely it is not I she's wanting;
Someone living here before—
"Nobody's in the house but me:
You may come in if you like and see."
Thin as thread, with exquisite fingers,—
Have you seen her, any of you?—
Grey shawl, and leaning on the wind,
And the garden showing through?
Glimmering eyes,—and silent, mostly,
Sort of a whisper, sort of a purr,
Asking something, asking it over,
If you get a sound from her.—
Ever see her, any of you?—
Strangest thing I've ever known,—
Every night since I moved in,
And I came to be alone.
"Thin Rain, hush with your knocking!
You may not come in!
This is I that you hear rocking;
Nobody's with me, nor has been!"
Curious, how she tried the window,—
Odd, the way she tries the door,—
Wonder just what sort of people
Could have had this house before . . .
Scheme | ABABCC XDXD CEEE DFGF AGAG XBXB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110 11111 101111110 110101 100111 111011101 111110010 11101011 11010101 0010101 100101010 110101101 101010110 1110110 10101011 1011101 10011110 0111101 1111110 11110 11111110 111111 100111010 1011101 10111110 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 852 |
Words | 171 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 105 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 159 Views
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"Wraith" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9503/wraith>.
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