Analysis of The Thread of Life
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
I
The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive sounding of the sea,
Speak both one message of one sense to me:--
Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
Thou too aloof bound with the flawless band
Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
But who from thy self-chain shall set thee free?
What heart shall touch thy heart? what hand thy hand?--
And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,
And sometimes I remember days of old
When fellowship seemed not so far to seek
And all the world and I seemed much less cold,
And at the rainbow's foot lay surely gold,
And hope felt strong and life itself not weak.
II
Thus am I mine own prison. Everything
Around me free and sunny and at ease:
Or if in shadow, in a shade of trees
Which the sun kisses, where the gay birds sing
And where all winds make various murmuring;
Where bees are found, with honey for the bees;
Where sounds are music, and where silences
Are music of an unlike fashioning.
Then gaze I at the merrymaking crew,
And smile a moment and a moment sigh
Thinking: Why can I not rejoice with you?
But soon I put the foolish fancy by:
I am not what I have nor what I do;
But what I was I am, I am even I.
III
Therefore myself is that one only thing
I hold to use or waste, to keep or give;
My sole possession every day I live,
And still mine own despite Time's winnowing.
Ever mine own, while moons and seasons bring
From crudeness ripeness mellow and sanitive;
Ever mine own, till Death shall ply his sieve;
And still mine own, when saints break grave and sing.
And this myself as king unto my King
I give, to Him Who gave Himself for me;
Who gives Himself to me, and bids me sing
A sweet new song of His redeemed set free;
he bids me sing: O death, where is thy sting?
And sing: O grave, where is thy victory?
Scheme | ABCCBBCCBDEDEED AFGGFFGXFHAHAHA AFIXFFIIFFCFCFC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (22%) |
Metre | 1 0110101 0110101 1111011111 0101110111 1101110101 110101111 1111111111 1111111111 0110110011 0011010111 110111111 0101011111 010111101 0111010111 1 111111010 0111010011 110100111 1011010111 01111100100 1111110101 1111001100 1101101100 1111011 0101000101 1011110111 1111010101 1111111111 11111111101 1 11111101 1111111111 11010100111 011101110 1011110101 1111001 1011111111 0111111101 011111011 1111110111 1101110111 0111110111 1111111111 0111111100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,738 |
Words | 349 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 15, 15, 15 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 456 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 115 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 09, 2023
- 1:45 min read
- 66 Views
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"The Thread of Life" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5954/the-thread-of-life>.
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