Analysis of Bluebeard’s First Wife
Leon Gellert 1892 (Australia) – 1977
I lie by the garden wall,
Buried and all alone;
The brown camellias fall
One by one on the stone.
Buried and all alone,
Because I had loved the sky!
One by one on the stone
The blossoms shudder and die.
Because I had loved the sky—
The dark blue face of the sea!
(The blossoms shudder and die)
He murdered me at his knee.
The dark, blue face of the sea.
Nothing so dark as the tomb!
He murdered me at his knee.
I knew the truth of the room!
Nothing so dark as the tomb
For the vile revenge of the vain.
I knew the truth of the room
And the price of his hidden stain.
For the vile revenge of the vain
I suffered the knife at my skin,
And the price of his hidden stain
Was two and eleven a tin!
I suffered the knife at my skin;
I knew the dye that he used
Was two and eleven a tin.
I confess I was somewhat amused.
I knew the dye that he used.
I heard the stitch of my shroud.
I confess I was somewhat amused
At the fury that burst like a cloud.
I heard the stitch of my shroud,
And all of the world disappeared
At the fury that burst like a cloud
From the heaven’s blue of his beard.
And all of the world disappeared!
I lie by the garden wall.
From the heaven’s blue of his beard
The brown camellias fall.
Scheme | ABAB BCBC CDCD DEDE EFEF FGFG GHGH HIHI IJIJ JAJA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Pantoum Quatrain |
Metre | 1110101 100101 0111 111101 100101 0111101 111101 0101001 0111101 0111101 0101001 1101111 0111101 1011101 1101111 1101101 1011101 10101101 1101101 00111101 10101101 11001111 00111101 11001001 11001111 1101111 11001001 101111101 1101111 1101111 101111101 101011101 1101111 0110101 101011101 10101111 0110101 1110101 10101111 0111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,179 |
Words | 252 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 92 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 85 Views
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"Bluebeard’s First Wife" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25419/bluebeard%E2%80%99s-first-wife>.
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