Analysis of Orchard
Hilda Doolittle 1886 (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) – 1961 (Zurich)
I saw the first pear
as it fell--
the honey-seeking, golden-banded,
the yellow swarm
was not more fleet than I,
(spare us from loveliness)
and I fell prostrate
crying:
you have flayed us
with your blossoms,
spare us the beauty
of fruit-trees.
The honey-seeking
paused not,
the air thundered their song,
and I alone was prostrate.
O rough hewn
god of the orchard,
I bring you an offering--
do you, alone unbeautiful,
son of the god,
spare us from loveliness:
these fallen hazel-nuts,
stripped late of their green sheaths,
grapes, red-purple,
their berries
dripping with wine,
pomegranates already broken,
and shrunken figs
and quinces untouched,
I bring you as offering.
Scheme | xaxxxBcdbbxb dxxc xxdaxB bbxbxxbxd |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011 111 010101010 0101 111111 1111 01110 10 1111 1110 11010 111 01010 11 011011 0101110 111 11010 1111100 11011 1101 1111 110101 111111 1110 110 1011 101010 0101 0101 1111100 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 914 |
Words | 112 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 4, 6, 9 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 17 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 132 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 23, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 179 Views
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"Orchard" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/19274/orchard>.
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