Analysis of Willow and Ginkgo
Eve Merriam 1916 (Philadelphia) – 1992 (Manhattan)
The willow is like an etching,
Fine-lined against the sky.
The ginkgo is like a crude sketch,
Hardly worthy to be signed.
The willow’s music is like a soprano,Delicate and thin.
The ginkgo’s tune is like a chorus
With everyone joining in.
The willow is sleek as a velvet-nosed calf;
The ginkgo is leathery as an old bull.
The willow’s branches are like silken thread;
The ginkgo’s like stubby rough wool.
The willow is like a nymph with streaming hair;
Wherever it grows, there is green and gold and fair.
The willow dips to the water,
Protected and precious, like the king’s favorite daughter.
The ginkgo forces its way through gray concrete;
Like a city child, it grows up in the street.
Thrust against the metal sky,
Somehow it survives and even thrives.
My eyes feast upon the willow,
But my heart goes to the ginkgo.
Scheme | ABCDEFEGHIHJJKKLLBMNA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111110 110101 0111011 1010111 0110110101 01111010 110100 0111101011 0111001111 011011101 0111011 0111011101 010111110101 0111010 01001010110010 0110111101 10101111001 1010101 11010101 1110101 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 811 |
Words | 147 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 21 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 645 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 146 |
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Submitted on November 20, 2015
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 3,439 Views
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"Willow and Ginkgo" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/44101/willow-and-ginkgo>.
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