Analysis of Marriage
Khalil Gibran 1883 (Bsharri) – 1931 (New York City)
Then Almitra spoke again and said, 'And what of Marriage, master?'
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
Scheme | A B A X X X X X X X X X X B X A X X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101010111010 011010 10101000101111 111010111111011 111101010001010011 111110010100 010110101011 110101110111 1110101010101111 11101111111 110101111111011 1010100110111111101 10101101101111010110 111110111010 110011110111 010101111010 10101010101 001100101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,023 |
Words | 195 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 18 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 44 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 44 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 11 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 125 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Marriage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25213/marriage>.
Discuss this Khalil Gibran poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In