Analysis of To Mrs. K--,
Helen Maria Williams 1761 (London) – 1827
WHAT crowding thoughts around me wake,
What marvels in a Christmas-cake!
Ah say, what strange enchantment dwells
Enclos'd within its od'rous cells?
Is there no small magician bound
Encrusted in its snowy round?
For magic surely lurks in this,
A cake that tells of vanish'd bliss;
A cake that conjures up to view
The early scenes, when life was new;
When mem'ry knew no sorrows past,
And hope believ'd in joys that last!--
Mysterious cake, whose folds contain
Life's calendar of bliss and pain;
That speaks of friends for ever fled,
And wakes the tears I love to shed.
Oft shall I breathe her cherish'd name
From whose fair hand the off'ring came:
For she recalls the artless smile
Of nymphs that deck my native Isle;
Of beauty that we love to trace,
Allied with tender, modest grace;
Of those who, while abroad they roam,
Retain each charm that gladdens home,
And whose dear friendship can impart
A Christmas banquet for the heart!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFF GGHHIIJJKKLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010111 11000101 11110101 0101111 11110101 01001101 11010101 01111101 01110111 01011111 1111101 01010111 010011101 11001101 11111101 01011111 11110101 11110111 111011 11111101 11011111 01110101 11110111 0111111 01110101 01010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 914 |
Words | 166 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 14 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 367 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 82 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 66 Views
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"To Mrs. K--," Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17155/to-mrs.-k--%2C>.
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