Analysis of Rosalind's Scroll
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
I LEFT thee last, a child at heart,
A woman scarce in years:
I come to thee, a solemn corpse
Which neither feels nor fears.
I have no breath to use in sighs;
They laid the dead-weights on mine eyes
To seal them safe from tears.
Look on me with thine own calm look:
I meet it calm as thou.
No look of thine can change this smile,
Or break thy sinful vow:
I tell thee that my poor scorn'd heart
Is of thine earth--thine earth--a part:
It cannot vex thee now.
I have pray'd for thee with bursting sob
When passion's course was free;
I have pray'd for thee with silent lips
In the anguish none could see;
They whisper'd oft, 'She sleepeth soft'--
But I only pray'd for thee.
Go to! I pray for thee no more:
The corpse's tongue is still;
Its folded fingers point to heaven,
But point there stiff and chill:
No farther wrong, no farther woe
Hath licence from the sin below
Its tranquil heart to thrill.
I charge thee, by the living's prayer,
And the dead's silentness,
To wring from out thy soul a cry
Which God shall hear and bless!
Lest Heaven's own palm droop in my hand,
And pale among the saints I stand,
A saint companionless.
Scheme | ABXBCCX XDXDAAD XEXEXE XFXFGGF XBXXHHB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111 010101 11110101 110111 11111101 11011111 111111 11111111 111111 11111111 111101 11111111 11111101 110111 111111101 11111 111111101 0010111 1101111 1110111 11111111 01111 110101110 111101 11011101 11010101 110111 1111011 0011 11111101 111101 110111011 01010111 011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,179 |
Words | 218 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 6, 7, 7 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 172 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 51 Views
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