Analysis of The Test
Katharine Tynan 1861 (Ireland) – 1931
Love has moods: and I am cold,
Very cold ofttimes to Thee;
Fain to slip from Thy dear hold
To my follies and be free.
Yet I love: Thou knowest all.
I am Thine in heat and chill;
Thou, Thou hast my heart in thrall,
All my life and all my will.
Thou, Immortal Lover, sure
Knowest the way that lovers have,
Now so cold, afraid, unsure,
Now afire with love and brave.
If I loved less it might be
That the way was smoother, less
Of the heavenly joys for me
And the cast-down bitterness.
I am cold -- be that Love's proof! --
And I burn -- the proof again! --
I would not be smooth but rough
Lest the smoother love should wane.
Give me earth or Heaven -- and yet
If it is Love's test to swing
'Twixt the earth and Heaven still set --
I -- I ask no other thing.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EXEX BXBX XXXX FGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) |
Metre | 1110111 101111 1111111 1110011 111111 1110101 1111101 1110111 1010101 1011101 1110101 1011101 1111111 1011101 10100111 0011100 1111111 0110101 1111111 1010111 11111001 1111111 10101011 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 739 |
Words | 158 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 93 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 35 Views
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"The Test" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25070/the-test>.
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