Analysis of Spring Wind in London
Katherine Mansfield 1888 (Wellington) – 1923 (Fontainebleau, Île-de-France)
I Blow across the stagnant world,
I blow across the sea,
For me, the sailor's flag unfurled,
For me, the uprooted tree.
My challenge to the world is hurled;
The world must bow to me.
I drive the clouds across the sky,
I huddle them like sheep;
Merciless shepherd-dog am I
And shepherd-watch I keep.
If in the quiet vales they lie
I blow them up the steep.
Lo! In the tree-tops do I hide,
In every living thing;
On the moon's yellow wings I glide,
On the wild rose I swing;
On the sea-horse's back I ride,
And what then do I bring?
And when a little child is ill
I pause, and with my hand
I wave the window curtain's frill
That he may understand
Outside the wind is blowing still;
...It is a pleasant land.
O stranger in a foreign place,
See what I bring to you.
This rain--is tears upon your face;
I tell you--tell you true
I came from that forgotten place
Where once the wattle grew,--
All the wild sweetness of the flower
Tangled against the wall.
It was that magic, silent hour....
The branches grew so tall
They twined themselves into a bower.
The sun shown... and the fall
Of yellow blossom on the grass!
You feel that golden rain?
Both of you could not hold, alas,
(both of you tried, in vain)
A memory, stranger. So I pass....
It will not come again
Scheme | ABABAB CDCDCD EFEFEF GHGHGH IJIJIJ KLKLKL MNMNMX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 110101 11010101 1100101 11010111 011111 11010101 110111 10010111 010111 10010111 111101 10011111 0100101 10110111 101111 10110111 011111 01010111 110111 1101011 11101 11011101 110101 11000101 111111 11110111 111111 11110101 110101 101101010 100101 111101010 010111 110101010 011001 11010101 111101 11111101 111101 010010111 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,225 |
Words | 244 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 136 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 99 Views
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"Spring Wind in London" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25136/spring-wind-in-london>.
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