Analysis of Just A Woman

Arthur Henry Adams 1872 (Lawrence) – 1936 (Sydney, New South Wales)



YOU ask me why I love her;
 Not a charm can you discover!
 Would you see
 The heart that a shut rose is,
 And whose beauty ne'er uncloses
 Save for me?  
  She is not rich or clever,
 But her speeches thrill me ever,
 And with bliss
 My heart her whisper flutters,
 Though the wisest word she utters
 Is a kiss.  
  All evil things have shunned her,
 And with a wide-eyed wonder
 Is she tasked,
 What lavish god has given
 In her earth so much of heaven
 All unasked?  
  She has no gifts or graces,
 But the gladness in her face is
 Sought of kings;
 She cannot chant a measure,
 But her heart with a grave pleasure
 Ever sings.  

Her gown is of the whitest
 But the hem is soiled the slightest:
 Little worth,
 She has no wings to fly with,
 And she prefers to hie with
 Me on earth.  
  There is no hint of heaven
 Or glimpse of deep thought even
 In her eyes;
 She is warm and she is human,
 Just a weak and wilful woman—
 Not too wise.  
  Her thousand beauties singing,
 I have not said how clinging
 Are her arms;
 But, not loved and not the lover
 Dare you ever hope discover
 Half her charms?


Scheme AABCBBAADEEDAAFGGFCCHAAH XXIJJIGXKGGKLLMAAM
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110 10111010 111 0110111 011011 111 1111110 10101110 011 1101010 10101110 101 1101110 0101110 111 1101110 00111110 11 1111110 1010011 111 1101010 10110110 101 0111010 10111010 101 1111111 0101111 111 1111110 1111110 001 11101110 1010110 111 0101010 1111110 101 11101010 11101010 101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,108
Words 210
Sentences 9
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 24, 18
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 19
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 404
Words per stanza (avg) 104
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
55

Arthur Henry Adams

Arthur Henry Adams was a journalist and author. He started his career in New Zealand, though he spent most of it in Australia, and for a short time lived in China and London.  more…

All Arthur Henry Adams poems | Arthur Henry Adams Books

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