Analysis of Sonnet XXIV: Let the World's Sharpness
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
Let the world's sharpness like a clasping knife
Shut in upon itself and do no harm
In this close hand of Love, now soft and warm,
And let us hear no sound of human strife
After the click of the shutting. Life to life -
I lean upon thee, Dear, without alarm,
And feel as safe as guarded by a charm
Against the stab of worldlings, who if rife
Are weak to injure. Very whitely still
The lilies of our lives may reassure
Their blossoms from their roots, accessible
Alone to heavenly dews that drop not fewer;
Growing straight, out of man's reach, on the hill.
God only, who made us rich, can make us poor.
Scheme | ABCAABBADEFGDH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101011 1001010111 0111111101 0111111101 10011010111 1101110101 0111110101 010111111 1111010101 0101101101 1101110100 011100111110 1011111101 11011111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 596 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 467 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 116 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 109 Views
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"Sonnet XXIV: Let the World's Sharpness" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10350/sonnet-xxiv%3A-let-the-world%27s-sharpness>.
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