Analysis of No Swan So Fine

Marianne Moore 1887 (Kirkwood) – 1972 (New York City)



"No water so still as the
dead fountains of Versailles." No swan,
with swart blind look askance
and gondoliering legs, so fine
as the chinz china one with fawn-
brown eyes and toothed gold
collar on to show whose bird it was.

Lodged in the Louis Fifteenth
candelabrum-tree of cockscomb-
tinted buttons, dahlias,
sea-urchins, and everlastings,
it perches on the branching foam
of polished sculptured
flowers--at ease and tall. The king is dead.


Scheme XXAXXXX XBAXBXX
Poetic Form
Metre 1101110 11010111 111101 01111 10110111 11011 101111111 1001001 1111 10101 1100010 11010101 11010 1011010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 439
Words 76
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 7
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 177
Words per stanza (avg) 37
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

22 sec read
509

Marianne Moore

Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit. more…

All Marianne Moore poems | Marianne Moore Books

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