Analysis of Zudora
Conrad Potter Aiken 1889 (Savannah, Georgia) – 1973 (Savannah, Georgia)
Here on the pale beach, in the darkness;
With the full moon just to rise;
They sit alone, and look over the sea,
Or into each other's eyes. . .
She pokes her parasol into the sleepy sand,
Or sifts the lazy whiteness through her hand.
'A lovely night,' he says, 'the moon,
Comes up for you and me.
Just like a blind old spotlight there,
Fizzing across the sea!'
She pays no heed, nor even turns her head:
He slides his arm around her waist instead.
'Why don't we do a sketch together--
Those songs you sing are swell.
Where did you get them, anyway?
They suit you awfully well.'
She will not turn to him--will not resist.
Impassive, she submits to being kissed.
'My husband wrote all four of them.
You know,--my husband drowned.
He was always sickly, soon depressed. . .'
But still she hears the sound
Of a stateroom door shut hard, and footsteps going
Swiftly and steadily, and the dark sea flowing.
She hears the dark sea flowing, and sees his eyes
Hollow with disenchantment, sick surprise,--
And hate of her whom he had loved too well. . .
She lowers her eyes, demurely prods a shell.
'Yes. We might do an act together.
That would be very nice.'
He kisses her passionately, and thinks
She's carnal, but cold as ice.
Scheme | XABA CC XBXB DD EFXF GG XHXH II AA FF EJXJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110110010 1011111 1101011001 1011101 1101010101 1101010101 01011101 111101 1101111 10101 1111110101 1111010101 111101010 111111 1111110 111101 1111111101 010111101 11011111 111101 11110101 111101 1011110110 100100001110 11011100111 1010010101 0110111111 11001010101 111111010 111101 1100100001 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,216 |
Words | 229 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2, 2, 2, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 84 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 117 Views
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"Zudora" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7099/zudora>.
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