No Swan So Fine

Marianne Moore 1887 (Kirkwood) – 1972 (New York City)



"No water so still as the
dead fountains of Versailles." No swan,
with swart blind look askance
and gondoliering legs, so fine
as the chinz china one with fawn-
brown eyes and toothed gold
collar on to show whose bird it was.

Lodged in the Louis Fifteenth
candelabrum-tree of cockscomb-
tinted buttons, dahlias,
sea-urchins, and everlastings,
it perches on the branching foam
of polished sculptured
flowers--at ease and tall. The king is dead.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

22 sec read
508

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXAXXXX XBAXBXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 439
Words 76
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 7

Marianne Moore

Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit. more…

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