Analysis of The Song Of The Violin
Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)
SHE stood in the curtains played over by light —
The tinted curtains — a tired, sweet girl,
With exquisite arms under laces of white
Like an ivory figure in mother-of-pearl.
I entered; she saw me, but made no move;
To some I nodded, to some replied;
(A violin somewhere was singing of love)
She blushed and paled, and I stood at her side.
I asked for a dance — she shook her head
And laughed like a petted, petulant queen;
She had promised them all to others, she said,
'And you are so late — and where have you been?'
They were talking low in the long, bright room,
And I answered her, moving the blind aside —
'Out there on the lawn in the velvet gloom,
Wooing a woman to make her my bride.'
She suddenly shook like a startled dove;
Ruffled and paled and hung her head
(A violin somewhere was singing of love,
And bitter-sweet were the things it said).
'This heat is stifling!' — she moved away.
'Out here,' I whispered, 'and hark to the tide!'
'The woman — where is she?' I heard her say;
'Now show me the woman you wooed for a bride.'
'Here on the land — and there on the sea,
Her feet among roses, her head in the skies;
And now do you see her?' She whispered 'I see,'
Her hand on my shoulder, a laugh in her eyes.
'Do you love her — this lady so mystical, fine?
I dwindle before her, a plain little miss;
She has stars in her hair — only roses in mine;
But the Night has no heart, and the Night cannot kiss.'
'Not now, if you please, sir!' — a moment she strove —
The curve of my arm softly circled her head . . .
A violin somewhere was singing of love,
And sweet beyond all were the things it said.
Scheme | ababcdEdfgfhididefEfjdjdklklmnmnofEf |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11001011011 0101001011 11001101011 111001001011 1101111111 111101101 0001111011 1101011101 111011101 0110101001 11101111011 0111101111 1010100111 01100100101 1110100101 1001011011 1100110101 10010101 0001111011 010100111 111101101 1111001101 0101111101 11101011101 110101101 01011001001 01111011011 01111001001 111011011001 11001001101 111001101001 101111001101 11111101011 01111101001 0001111011 0101100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,602 |
Words | 330 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 36 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,192 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 320 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 06, 2023
- 1:35 min read
- 126 Views
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