Analysis of Twice
Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)
I took my heart in my hand
(O my love, O my love),
I said: Let me fall or stand,
Let me live or die,
But this once hear me speak-
(O my love, O my love)-
Yet a woman's words are weak;
You should speak, not I.
You took my heart in your hand
With a friendly smile,
With a critical eye you scanned,
Then set it down,
And said: It is still unripe,
Better wait a while;
Wait while the skylarks pipe,
Till the corn grows brown
As you set it down it broke-
Broke, but I did not wince;
I smiled at the speech you spoke,
At your judgment that I heard:
But I have not often smiled
Since then, nor questioned since,
Nor cared for corn-flowers wild,
Nor sung with the singing bird.
I take my heart in my hand,
O my God, O my God,
My broken heart in my hand:
Thou hast seen, judge Thou
My hope was written on sand,
O my God, O my God:
Now let Thy judgment stand-
Yea, judge me now
This contemned of a man,
This marred one heedless day,
This heart take Thou to scan
Both within and without:
Refine with fire its gold,
Purge Thou its dross away-
Yea, hold it in Thy hold,
Whence none can pluck it out.
I take my heart in my hand-
I shall not die, but live-
Before Thy face I stand;
I, for Thou callest such:
All that I have I bring,
All that I am I give,
Smile Thou and I shall sing,
But shall not question much.
Scheme | aBacdBdc aeafgegf hihjkikj ALamaLam nonpqoqp Axarsxsr |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011 111111 1111111 11111 111111 111111 1010111 11111 1111011 10101 10100111 1111 011111 10101 11011 10111 1111111 111111 1110111 1110111 1111101 111101 1111101 1110101 1111011 111111 1101011 11111 1111011 111111 111101 1111 11101 11111 111111 101001 0111011 111101 111011 111111 1111011 111111 011111 11111 111111 111111 110111 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,300 |
Words | 272 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 161 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 1:21 min read
- 252 Views
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"Twice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/5965/twice>.
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