Analysis of Balade
Sir Henry Newbolt 1862 (Bilston, Staffordshire) – 1938 (Kensington, London)
(from the French of Wenceslas, Duke of Brabant and Luxembourg, who died in 1384.)
I cannot tell, of twain beneath this bond,
Which one in grief the other goes beyond,---
Narcissus, who to end the pain he bore
Died of the love that could not help him more;
Or I, that pine because I cannot see
The lady who is queen and love to me.
Nay--for Narcissus, in the forest pond
Seeing his image, made entreaty fond,
'Beloved, comfort on my longing pour':
So for a while he soothed his passion sore;
So cannot I, for all too far is she---
The lady who is queen and love to me.
But since that I have Love's true colours donned,
I in his service will not now despond,
For in extremes Love yet can all restore:
So till her beauty walks the world no more
All day remembered in my hope shall be
The lady who is queen and love to me.
Scheme | xaabbcC aabbcC aabbcC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101111110010110 1101110111 1101010101 0101110111 1101111111 1111011101 0101110111 1101000101 1011010101 011011101 1101111101 1101111111 0101110111 111111111 101101111 1001111101 1101010111 1101001111 0101110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 808 |
Words | 165 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 208 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 65 Views
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"Balade" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35116/balade>.
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