Analysis of Love and Black Magic
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
To the woods, to the woods is the wizard gone;
In his grotto the maiden sits alone.
She gazes up with a weary smile
At the rafter-hanging crocodile,
The slowly swinging crocodile.
Scorn has she of her master’s gear,
Cauldron, alembic, crystal sphere,
Phial, philtre—“Fiddlededee
For all such trumpery trash!” quo’ she.
“A soldier is the lad for me;
Hey and hither, my lad!
“Oh, here have I ever lain forlorn:
My father died ere I was born,
Mother was by a wizard wed,
And oft I wish I had died instead—
Often I wish I were long time dead.
But, delving deep in my master’s lore,
I have won of magic power such store
I can turn a skull—oh, fiddlededee
For all this curious craft!” quo’ she.
“A soldier is the lad for me;
Hey and hither, my lad!
“To bring my brave boy unto my arms,
What need have I of magic charms—
‘Abracadabra!’ and ‘Prestopuff’?
I have but to wish, and that is enough.
The charms are vain, one wish is enough.
My master pledged my hand to a wizard;
Transformed would I be to toad or lizard
If e’er he guessed—but fiddlededee
For a black-browed sorcerer, now,” quo’ she.
“Let Cupid smile and the fiend must flee;
Hey and hither, my lad.”
Scheme | xxaaabbcdDC eecccffcdDC gghhhcccddC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10110110101 011010101 110110101 10101010 0101010 11110101 101101 111 1111111 01010111 101011 111110101 11011111 10110101 011111101 101110111 110101101 1111101011 1110111 111100111 01010111 101011 111111011 11111101 001001 1111101101 011111101 1101111010 0111111110 111111 1011100111 110100111 101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,208 |
Words | 223 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 11, 11 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 290 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 06, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 91 Views
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"Love and Black Magic" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31144/love-and-black-magic>.
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