Analysis of My Lady Of Whims
Katharine Lee Bates 1859 (Falmouth) – 1929 (Wellesley)
(A medieval Spanish legend slanderously setting forth the utter unreason of woman.)
ROMAQUIA sat and wept her
Lace mantilla full of tears.
King Abit laid by his scepter,
Left the Council of the Peers.
'Now what sorrow makes thee cry, mate?
Queen of Seville, sobbing so?'
''Tis your Andalusian climate.
Oh, I want to see the snow.'
'Speak thy wish and it is granted;
Thine to bid and mine to please.'
All the hills and plains he planted
With a myriad almond trees.
When the suns of February
Made them white with blossoming,
Romaquia was so merry
That she kissed the happy king.
'Every ill has its panacea,'
Wrote the learned King Abit,
Smiling on his Romaquia,
While he wondered at his wit.
Romaquia sat and wept her
Dainty fan into a dud.
King Abit threw by his scepter
With an unmajestic thud.
'What's the trouble, top of treasures?'
'See those women by the flood
Kneading bricks, but I've no pleasures.
I can't dabble in the mud.'
Loud he called his master mason
And in bower of eglantine
Built a jade and jasper basin,
Filled with rose-water and wine.
Then for mud he poured in spices,
Ginger, mace and cinnamon,
Sugar, honey, syrups, ices,
That the Queen might have her fun.
'Every ill has its panacea,'
Wrote the learned King Abit
Wondering if his Romaquia
Recognized her husband's wit.
Romaquia in her garden
Watered all the trees with salt
Till they faded, and the warden
Was beheaded for the fault
Of his lachrymose sultana.
Oleander, citron, balm,
Orange, lemon and banana,
The pomegranate, myrtle, palm,
All were drooping for distresses
That the Queen poured out in tears,
Pouting at the King's caresses
Till he longed to box her ears.
'Let me be!' she snapped.''You squeeze me,
Clumsy thing! You never try
In the very least to please me,
So of course I have to cry.'
'Every ill has its panacea,'
Wrote the rueful King Abit,
'Every ill but Romaquia.
Wives' caprices wear out wit.'
Scheme | aBcbdefgfhihijkjkLEkmBhbhnhnhaoaopapaLEkmaqaqarlrscsdjtjtLekm |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0010101011010101110 11010 1010111 111111 1010101 11101111 1101101 1101010 1111101 11101110 1110111 10101110 10100101 1011100 1111100 11110 1110101 100111010 10111 10111 1110111 11010 1010101 111111 1111 10101110 1110101 10111110 1110001 11111010 0010110 10101010 1111001 11111010 1010100 10101010 1011101 100111010 10111 100111 100101 10010 1010111 11100010 1010101 1111 100101 10100010 0010101 10101010 1011101 10101010 1111101 1111111 1011101 00101111 1111111 100111010 101011 100111 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,838 |
Words | 349 |
Sentences | 28 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 61 |
Lines Amount | 61 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,463 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 334 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 1:43 min read
- 110 Views
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"My Lady Of Whims" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24876/my-lady-of-whims>.
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