Analysis of A Grave
Marianne Moore 1887 (Kirkwood) – 1972 (New York City)
Man looking into the sea,
taking the view from those who have as much right to it as
you have to it yourself,
it is human nature to stand in the middle of a thing,
but you cannot stand in the middle of this;
the sea has nothing to give but a well excavated grave.
The firs stand in a procession, each with an emerald turkey-
foot at the top,
reserved as their contours, saying nothing;
repression, however, is not the most obvious characteristic of
the sea;
the sea is a collector, quick to return a rapacious look.
There are others besides you who have worn that look --
whose expression is no longer a protest; the fish no longer
investigate them
for their bones have not lasted:
men lower nets, unconscious of the fact that they are
desecrating a grave,
and row quickly away -- the blades of the oars
moving together like the feet of water-spiders as if there were
no such thing as death.
The wrinkles progress among themselves in a phalanx -- beautiful
under networks of foam,
and fade breathlessly while the sea rustles in and out of the
seaweed;
the birds swim throught the air at top speed, emitting cat-calls
as heretofore --
the tortoise-shell scourges about the feet of the cliffs, in motion
beneath them;
and the ocean, under the pulsation of lighthouses and noise of
bell-buoys,
advances as usual, looking as if it were not that ocean in which
dropped things are bound to sink --
in which if they turn and twist, it is neither with volition nor
consciousness.
Scheme | ABCDEFAGDHAIIJKLMFNJOPQRSTUVKHWXYUZ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1100101 10011111111111 111101 111010110010101 11101001011 01110111011001 011000101111010 1101 011111010 01010110110000101 01 0110010110100101 111001111111 101011100101110 0101 1111110 110110101111 101 01100101101 10010101110101110 11111 010101010010100 10111 01100101100110 1 01110111101011 101 0101100101101010 011 00101001110011 110 0101100101110111001 111111 0111101111010101 100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,589 |
Words | 269 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 35 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,161 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 267 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 160 Views
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