Analysis of A Woman's Complaint
I know that deep within your heart of hearts
You hold me shrined apart from common things,
And that my step, my voice, can bring to you
A gladness that no other pleasure brings.
And yet, dear love, through all the weary days
You never speak one word of tenderness,
Nor stroke my hair, nor softly clasp my hand
Within your own in loving mute caress.
You think, perhaps, I should be all content
To know so well the loving place I hold
Within your life, and so you do not dream
How much I long to hear the story told.
You cannot know, when we two sit alone,
And tranquil thoughts within your mind are stirred,
My heart is crying like a tire child
For one fond look, one gentle, loving word.
It may be when your eyes look into mine
You only say, 'How dear she is to me!'
Oh, could I read it in you softened glance.
How radiant this plain world would be!
Perhaps, sometimes, you breathe a secret prayer
That choicest blessings unto me be given;
But if you said aloud, 'God bless thee, dear!'
I should not ask a greater boon from Heaven.
I weary sometimes of the rugged way;
But should you say, 'Through thee my life is sweet,'
The dreariest desert that our path could cross
Would suddenly grow green beneath my feet.
'Tis not the boundless waters ocean holds
That give refreshment to the thirsty flowers,
But just the drops that, rising to the skies,
From thence descend in softly falling showers.
What matter that our granaries are filled
With all the richest harvest's golden stores,
If we who own them cannot enter in,
But famished stand before the close-barred doors?
And so 'tis sad that those who should be rich
In that true love that crowns our earthly lot,
Go praying with white lips from day to day
For love's sweet tokens, and receive them not.
Scheme | XAXA XXXX XBXB XCXC XDXD XEXE FGXG XHXH XIXI XJFJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (90%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1111011111 1111011101 0111111111 011110101 0111110101 1101111100 1111110111 0111010101 1101111110 1111010111 0111011111 1111110101 1101111101 0101011111 1111010101 1111110101 1111111011 1101111111 1111101101 110011111 0101110101 11010101110 1111011111 11110101110 1100110101 1111111111 0110110111 1100110111 1101010101 11010101010 1101110101 11010101010 110110111 110101101 1111110100 1101010111 0111111111 01111110101 1101111111 1111000111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,720 |
Words | 331 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 137 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:39 min read
- 61 Views
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"A Woman's Complaint" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3340/a-woman%27s-complaint>.
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