Analysis of Sea Holly
Conrad Potter Aiken 1889 (Savannah, Georgia) – 1973 (Savannah, Georgia)
Begotten by the meeting of rock with rock,
The mating of rock and rock, rocks gnashing together;
Created so, and yet forgetful, walks
The seaward path, puts up her left hand, shades
Blue eyes, the eyes of rock, to see better
In slanting light the ancient sheep (which kneels
Biting the grass) the while her other hand,
Hooking the wicker handle, turns the basket
Of eggs. The sea is high to-day. The eggs
Are cheaper. The sea is blown from the southwest,
Confused, taking up sand and mud in waves,
The waves break, sluggish, in brown foam, the wind
Disperses (on the sheep and hawthorn) spray,—
And on her cheeks, the cheeks engendered of rock,
And eyes, the colour of rock. The left hand
Falls from the eyes, and undecided slides
Over the left breast on which muslin lightly
Rests, touching the nipple, and then down
The hollow side, virgin as rock, and bitterly
Caresses the blue hip.
It was for this,
This obtuse taking of the seaward path,
This stupid hearing of larks, this hooking
Of wicker, this absent observation of sheep
Kneeling in harsh sea-grass, the cool hand shading
The spray-stung eyes—it was for this the rock
Smote itself. The sea is higher to-day,
And eggs are cheaper. The eyes of rock take in
The seaward path that winds toward the sea,
The thistle-prodder, old woman under a bonnet,
Forking the thistles, her back against the sea,
Pausing, with hard hands on the handle, peering
With rock eyes from her bonnet.
It was for this,
This rock-lipped facing of brown waves, half sand
And half water, this tentative hand that slides
Over the breast of rock, and into the hollow
Soft side of muslin rock, and then fiercely
Almost as rock against the hip of rock—
It was for this in midnight the rocks met,
And dithered together, cracking and smoking.
It was for this
Barren beauty, barrenness of rock that aches
On the seaward path, seeing the fruitful sea,
Hearing the lark of rock that sings, smelling
The rock-flower of hawthorn, sweetness of rock—
It was for this, stone pain in the stony heart,
The rock loved and laboured; and all is lost.
Scheme | abcxbcdexxxxfadghxhx Ixjxjafxhehje Idgxhaxj Ixhjaxx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010101111 0101101110010 0101010101 0101110111 1101111110 0101010111 1001010101 10010101010 1101111101 1100111101 0110110101 0111001101 1101011 01010101011 010111011 110100101 10011111010 110010011 010110110100 010011 1111 1011010101 1101011110 11011001011 10011101110 0111111101 1010111011 01110011110 0101110101 010111010010 10010010101 10111101010 1111010 1111 1111011111 01101100111 100111001010 1111010110 111010111 111101011 0101010010 1111 101011111 10101100101 1001111110 0110111011 11111100101 011010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,076 |
Words | 369 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 20, 13, 8, 7 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 404 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 92 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:50 min read
- 78 Views
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"Sea Holly" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7034/sea-holly>.
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