Analysis of The Waterfall and The Eglantine
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
'Begone, thou fond presumptuous Elf,'
Exclaimed an angry Voice,
'Nor dare to thrust thy foolish self
Between me and my choice!'
A small Cascade fresh swoln with snows
Thus threatened a poor Briar-rose,
That, all bespattered with his foam,
And dancing high and dancing low,
Was living, as a child might know,
In an unhappy home.
'Dost thou presume my course to block?
Off, off! or, puny Thing!
I'll hurl thee headlong with the rock
To which thy fibres cling.'
The Flood was tyrannous and strong;
The patient Briar suffered long,
Nor did he utter groan or sigh,
Hoping the danger would be past;
But, seeing no relief, at last,
He ventured to reply.
'Ah!' said the Briar, 'blame me not;
Why should we dwell in strife?
We who in this sequestered spot
Once lived a happy life!
You stirred me on my rocky bed--
What pleasure through my veins you spread
The summer long, from day to day,
My leaves you freshened and bedewed;
Nor was it common gratitude
That did your cares repay.
'When spring came on with bud and bell,
Among these rocks did I
Before you hang my wreaths to tell
That gentle days were nigh!
And in the sultry summer hours,
I sheltered you with leaves and flowers;
And in my leaves--now shed and gone,
The linnet lodged, and for us two
Chanted his pretty songs, when you
Had little voice or none.
'But now proud thoughts are in your breast--
What grief is mine you see,
Ah! would you think, even yet how blest
Together we might be!
Though of both leaf and flower bereft,
Some ornaments to me are left--
Rich store of scarlet hips is mine,
With which I, in my humble way,
Would deck you many a winter day,
A happy Eglantine!'
What more he said I cannot tell,
The Torrent down the rocky dell
Came thundering loud and fast;
I listened, nor aught else could hear;
The Briar quaked--and much I fear
Those accents were his last.
Scheme | ABABCCDEED FGFGHHIJJI KLKLMMNJXN OIOIPPXQQX RSRSTTUNNU OOJXXJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101001 011101 11111101 011011 01011111 11001101 111111 01010101 11010111 010101 11011111 111101 1111101 11111 011101 01010101 11110111 10010111 11010111 110101 11010111 111101 11010101 110101 11111101 11011111 01011111 1111001 1111010 111101 11111101 011111 01111111 110101 000101010 110111010 00111101 01010111 10110111 110111 11111011 111111 111110111 010111 111101001 11001111 11110111 11101101 111100101 01010 11111101 01010101 1100101 11011111 01010111 110011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,853 |
Words | 349 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 6 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 236 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 56 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 100 Views
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"The Waterfall and The Eglantine" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42402/the-waterfall-and-the-eglantine>.
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