Analysis of To Catharine

George Moses Horton 1779 (North Carolina) – 1883



I'll love thee as long as I live,
Whate'er thy condition may be;
All else but my life would I give,
That thou wast as partial to me.

I love thee because thou art fair,
And fancy no other beside;
I languish thy pleasures to share,
Whatever my life may betide.

I'll love thee when youth's vital beam
Grows dim on the visage of cares;
And trace back on time's rapid stream,
Thy beauty when sinking in years.

Though nature no longer is gay,
With blooms which the simple adore,
Let virtue forbid me to say,
That Cath'rine is lovely no more.


Scheme XAXA BCBC DXDX EFEF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 11111111 10101011 11111111 11111011 11101111 01011001 11011011 1011101 11111101 11101011 01111101 11011001 11011011 11101001 11001111 1111011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 543
Words 104
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 103
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
85

George Moses Horton

George Moses Horton was an African-American poet and the first African American poet to be published in the Southern United States. His book was published in 1828 while he was still a slave; he remained a slave until he was emancipated late in the Civil War. more…

All George Moses Horton poems | George Moses Horton Books

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