Analysis of Valentine

Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)



Too high, too high to pluck
My heart shall swing.
A fruit no bee shall suck,
No wasp shall sting.

If on some night of cold
It falls to ground
In apple-leaves of gold
I'll wrap it round.

And I shall seal it up
With spice and salt,
In a carven silver cup,
In a deep vault.

Before my eyes are blind
And my lips mute,
I must eat core and rind
Of that same fruit.

Before my heart is dust
By the end of all,
Eat it I must, I must
Were it bitter gall.

But I shall keep it sweet
By some strange art;
Wild honey I shall eat
When I eat my heart.

O honey cool and chaste
As clover's breath!
Sweet Heaven I shall taste
Before my death.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KLKL MNMN
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 111111 1111 011111 1111 111111 1111 010111 1111 011111 1101 001101 0011 011111 0111 111101 1111 011111 10111 111111 01101 111111 1111 110111 11111 110101 111 110111 0111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 625
Words 134
Sentences 10
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 17
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 67
Words per stanza (avg) 19
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

40 sec read
216

Elinor Morton Wylie

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry." more…

All Elinor Morton Wylie poems | Elinor Morton Wylie Books

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