Analysis of Disappointment
Violet Nicolson 1865 (Stoke Bishop, Gloucestershire) – 1904 (Madras, Madras Province)
Oh, come, Beloved, before my beauty fades,
Pity the sorrow of my loneliness.
I am a Rosebush that the Cypress shades,
No sunbeams find or lighten my distress.
Daily I watch the waning of my bloom.
Ah, piteous fading of a thing so fair!
While Fate, remorseless, weaving at her loom,
Twines furtive silver in my twisted hair.
This noon I watched a tremulous fading rose
Rise on the wind to court a butterfly.
"One speck of pollen, ere my petals close,
Bring me one touch of love before I die!"
But the gay butterfly, who had the power
To grant, refused, flew far across the dell,
And, as he fertilised a younger flower,
The petals of the rose, defrauded, fell.
Such was my fate, thou hast not come to me,
Thine eyes are absent, and thy voice is mute,
Though I am slim, as this Papaya tree,
With breasts out-pointing, even as its fruit.
Beauty was mine, it brought me no caress,
My lips were red, yet there were none to taste,
I saw my youth consume in loneliness,
And all the fervour of my heart run waste.
While I still hoped that Thou would'st come to me,
I and the garden waited for their Lord.
Here He will rest, beneath this Champa tree;
Hence, all ye spike-set grasses from the sward!
In this cool rillet I shall bathe His feet,
Come, rounded pebbles from a smoother shore.
This is the honey that His lips will eat,
Hasten, O bees, enhance the amber store!
Ripen, ye Custard Apples, round and fair,
Practise your songs, O Bulbuls, on the bough,
Surely some sweeter sweetness haunts the air;
Maybe His feet draw near us, even now!
Disperse, ye fireflies, clustered on the palm,
Love heeds no lamp, he welcomes moonless skies:
Soon shall ye find, O stars, serene and calm,
Your sparkling rivals in my lover's eyes!
Closely I wove my leafy Jasmin bowers,
Hoping to hide my pleasure and my shame,
Where the Lantana's indecisive flowers
Vary from palest rose to orange flame.
Ay, there were lovely hours, 'neath fern and palm,
Almost my aching longing I forgot.
White nights of silence, noons of golden calm,
All past, all wasted, since Thou camest not!
Night after night the Champa trees distilled
Their cruel sweetness on the careless air.
Noon after noon I watched the Bulbuls build,
And saw with hungry eyes the Sun-birds pair.
None came, and none will come; no use to wait, -
Youth's fragrance dies, its tender light dies down.
I will arise, before it grows too late,
And seek the noisy brilliance of the town.
These many waiting years I longed for gold,
Now must I needs console me with alloy.
Before this beauty fades, this pulse grows cold,
I may not love, I will at least enjoy!
Farewell, my Solitude of scented flowers,
Across whose glades the emerald parrots gleam,
Haunt of false hope, and home of wasted hours,
I am awake, at last, - Guard thou the dream!
Scheme | ABAC DEDE XFXF GHGH IJIJ CKBK ILIL MNMN EOEO PQPQ RSRS PTPT UEUE VWVW XYXY RZRZ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (94%) |
Metre | 1101011101 1001011100 110110101 111110101 1011010111 111010111 1101010101 1101001101 11110100101 110111010 1111011101 1111110111 1011011010 1101110101 011101010 0101010101 1111111111 1111001111 1111110101 1111010111 1011111101 1101110111 1111010100 010111111 11111111111 1001010111 1111011101 1111110101 011111111 1101010101 1101011111 1011010101 1011010101 11111101 1011010101 1011111101 0111010101 111111011 1111110101 1101001101 10111101010 1011110011 10101010 1011011101 11010101101 111010101 1111011101 111101111 1101010101 1101010101 110111011 0111010111 1101111111 1101110111 1101011111 0101010101 1101011111 111110111 0111011111 1111111101 111011010 0111010101 11110111010 1101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,749 |
Words | 520 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 16 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 64 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 134 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 07, 2023
- 2:37 min read
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"Disappointment" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/56062/disappointment>.
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