Analysis of Celandine
Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)
Thinking of her had saddened me at first,
Until I saw the sun on the celandines lie
Redoubled, and she stood up like a flame,
A living thing, not what before I nursed,
The shadow I was growing to love almost,
The phantom, not the creature with bright eye
That I had thought never to see, once lost.
She found the celandines of February
Always before us all. Her nature and name
Were like those flowers, and now immediately
For a short swift eternity back she came,
Beautiful, happy, simply as when she wore
Her brightest bloom among the winter hues
Of all the world; and I was happy too,
Seeing the blossoms and the maiden who
Had seen them with me Februarys before,
Bending to them as in and out she trod
And laughed, with locks sweeping the mossy sod.
But this was a dream; the flowers were not true,
Until I stooped to pluck from the grass there
One of five petals and I smelt the juice
Which made me sigh, remembering she was no more,
Gone like a never perfectly recalled air.
Scheme | ABCAXBX DCDCEXFFEGG FHXEH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1010110111 0111011011 0100111101 0101110111 011110111 0101010111 1111101111 11011100 1011101001 011100101000 10110100111 10010101111 0101010101 1101011101 1001000101 11111101 1011100111 011110011 11101010011 0111111011 1111001101 111101001111 11010100011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 966 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 11, 5 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 257 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 291 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Celandine" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9836/celandine>.
Discuss this Edward Thomas poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In