Analysis of Bride Song
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
From 'The Prince's Progress'
TOO late for love, too late for joy,
Too late, too late!
You loiter'd on the road too long,
You trifled at the gate:
The enchanted dove upon her branch
Died without a mate;
The enchanted princess in her tower
Slept, died, behind the grate;
Her heart was starving all this while
You made it wait.
Ten years ago, five years ago,
One year ago,
Even then you had arrived in time,
Though somewhat slow;
Then you had known her living face
Which now you cannot know:
The frozen fountain would have leap'd,
The buds gone on to blow,
The warm south wind would have awaked
To melt the snow.
Is she fair now as she lies?
Once she was fair;
Meet queen for any kingly king,
With gold-dust on her hair.
Now there are poppies in her locks,
White poppies she must wear;
Must wear a veil to shroud her face
And the want graven there:
Or is the hunger fed at length,
Cast off the care?
We never saw her with a smile
Or with a frown;
Her bed seem'd never soft to her,
Though toss'd of down;
She little heeded what she wore,
Kirtle, or wreath, or gown;
We think her white brows often ached
Beneath her crown,
Till silvery hairs show'd in her locks
That used to be so brown.
We never heard her speak in haste:
Her tones were sweet,
And modulated just so much
As it was meet:
Her heart sat silent through the noise
And concourse of the street.
There was no hurry in her hands,
No hurry in her feet;
There was no bliss drew nigh to her,
That she might run to greet.
You should have wept her yesterday,
Wasting upon her bed:
But wherefore should you weep to-day
That she is dead?
Lo, we who love weep not to-day,
But crown her royal head.
Let be these poppies that we strew,
Your roses are too red:
Let be these poppies, not for you
Cut down and spread.
Scheme | X XAXAXABACA DDXDEDXDAD XFXFGFEFXF CHBHXHXHGH XIXIXIXIBI JKJKJKLKLK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101 11111111 1111 1110111 11101 001010101 10101 0010100010 110101 01110111 1111 11011101 1101 101110101 1111 11110101 111101 01010111 011111 0111111 1101 1111111 1111 11110101 111101 11110001 110111 11011101 001101 11010111 1101 11010101 1101 01110110 1111 11010111 11111 11011101 0101 110011001 111111 11010101 0101 01000111 1111 01110101 01101 11110001 110001 11111110 111111 1111010 100101 1111111 1111 11111111 110101 11110111 110111 11110111 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,856 |
Words | 343 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 61 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 193 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 49 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 1:44 min read
- 159 Views
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"Bride Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5754/bride-song>.
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