Analysis of The Widow’s Mite
Letitia Elizabeth Landon 1802 (Chelsea) – 1838 (Cape Coast)
It is the fruit of waking hours
When others are asleep,
When moaning round the low thatched roof
The winds of winter creep.
It is the fruit of summer days
Past in a gloomy room,
When others are abroad to taste
The pleasant morning bloom.
’Tis given from a scanty store
And missed while it is given:
’Tis given—for the claims of earth
Are less than those of heaven.
Few save the poor feel for the poor,
The rich know not how hard
It is to be of needful food
And needful rest debarred.
Their paths are paths of plenteousness;
They sleep on silk and down,
And never think how heavily
The weary head lies down.
They know not of the scanty meal
With small pale faces round;
No fire upon the cold, damp hearth,
When snow is on the ground.
They never by their window sit,
And see the gay pass by;
Yet take their weary work again,
Though with a mournful eye.
The rich, they give—they miss it not—
A blessing cannot be
Like that which rests, thou widowed one,
Upon thy gift and thee!
Scheme | ABXB XCDC XEXE XXXD AFGF XHXH XIXI XGEG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 110111010 110101 11010111 011101 11011101 100101 11010111 010101 11010101 0111110 11010111 1111110 11011101 011111 11111101 01011 111111 111101 01011100 010111 11110101 111101 110010111 111101 11011101 010111 11110101 110101 01111111 010101 11111101 011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,028 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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"The Widow’s Mite" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/52535/the-widow%E2%80%99s-mite>.
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