Analysis of From "Vashti"
Lascelles Abercrombie 1881 (Ashton upon Mersey) – 1938 (London)
WHAT thing shall be held up to woman's beauty?
Where are the bounds of it? Yea, what is all
The world, but an awning scaffolded amid
The waste perilous Eternity, to lodge
This Heaven-wander'd princess, woman's beauty?
The East and West kneel down to thee, the North
And South; and all for thee their shoulders bear
The load of fourfold space. As yellow morn
Runs on the slippery waves of the spread sea,
Thy feet are on the griefs and joys of men
That sheen to be thy causey. Out of tears
Indeed, and blitheness, murder and lust and love,
Whatever has been passionate in clay,
Thy flesh was tempered. Behold in thy body
The yearnings of all men measured and told,
Insatiate endless agonies of desire
Given thy flesh, the meaning of thy shape!
What beauty is there, but thou makest it?
How is earth good to look on, woods and fields,
The season's garden, and the courageous hills,
All this green raft of earth moored in the seas?
The manner of the sun to ride the air,
The stars God has imagined for the night?
What's this behind them, that we cannot near,
Secret still on the point of being blabbed,
The ghost in the world that flies from being named?
Where do they get their beauty from, all these?
They do but glaze a lantern lit for man,
And woman's beauty is the flame therein.
Scheme | ABCDAEFGAHIJKALMNOPQRFSTAURVW |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111010 1101111111 011110101 01100010011 11010101010 0101111101 0101111101 0111111101 11010011011 1111010111 1111110111 0101100101 101110001 11110010110 0101111001 1101001010 1011010111 110111111 1111111101 01010000101 1111111001 0101011101 0111010101 1101111101 1011011101 01001111101 1111110111 1111010111 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,361 |
Words | 240 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 29 |
Lines Amount | 29 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,000 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 238 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 70 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"From "Vashti"" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25397/from-%22vashti%22>.
Discuss this Lascelles Abercrombie 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