Analysis of To A Friend Who Sent Me A Box Of Violets
Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch 1863 (Bodmin, Cornwall) – 1944 (Cornwall)
Nay, more than violets
These thoughts of thine, friend!
Rather thy reedy brook--
Taw's tributary--
At midnight murmuring,
Descried them, the delicate
Dark-eyed goddesses,
There by his cressy bed
Dissolved and dreaming
Dreams that distilled into dew
All the purple of night,
All the shine of a planet.
Whereat he whispered;
And they arising--
Of day's forget-me-nots
The duskier sisters--
Descended, relinquished
The orchard, the trout-pool,
Torridge and Tamar,
The Druid circles,
Sheepfolds of Dartmoor,
Granite and sandstone;
By Roughtor, Dozmare,
Down the vale of the Fowey
Moving in silence,
Brushing the nightshade
By bridges cyclopean,
By Trevenna, Treverbyn,
Lawharne and Largin,
By Glynn, Lanhydrock,
Restormel, Lostwithiel,
Dark wood, dim water, dreaming town;
Down the vale of the Fowey
To the tidal water
Washing the feet
Of fair St Winnow--
Each, in her exile
Musing the message,
Passed, as the starlit
Shadow of Ruth from the land of the Moabite.
So they came,
Valley-born, valley-nurtured--
Came to the tideway
The jetties, the anchorage,
The salt wind piping,
Snoring in Equinox,
By ships at anchor,
By quays tormented,
Storm-bitten streets;
Came to the Haven
Crying, 'Ah, shelter us,
The strayed ambassadors,
Love's lost legation
On a comfortless coast!'
Nay, but a little sleep,
A little folding
Of petals to the lull
Of quiet rainfalls--
Here in my garden,
In angle sheltered
From north and east wind--
Softly shall recreate
The courage of charity,
Henceforth not to me only
Breathing the message.
Clean-breath'd Sirens!
Hencefore the mariner.
Scheme | xabcdexxdxxe fd xgxhcxcicJxxkiibhxJlxxxmxa xfjmdxlxxkxgix xdxxkfxxccm xl |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111100 11111 101101 1100 11100 110100 11100 111101 01010 1101011 101011 1011010 1110 01010 110111 0110 010010 010011 101 01010 111 1001 111 101101 10010 1001 110010 111 101 111 11 11110101 101101 101010 1001 1111 1001 10010 11010 111101101 111 1011010 1101 010100 01110 10010 11110 1110 1101 11010 101101 010100 111 1011 110101 01010 110101 1101 10110 01010 11011 10110 0101100 1111110 10010 1110 10100 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,502 |
Words | 248 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 2, 26, 14, 11, 2 |
Lines Amount | 67 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 205 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 93 Views
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"To A Friend Who Sent Me A Box Of Violets" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35031/to-a-friend-who-sent-me-a-box-of-violets>.
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