Analysis of The Mirror in the Hall
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
The rich house had in the hall
An enormous mirror, very old;
Bought at least eighty years ago.
A very handsome boy, assistant at a tailor’s
(On Sundays an amateur athlete),
Was standing there with a parcel. He handed it
To someone of the house, and he took it inside
To fetch the receipt. The tailor’s assistant
Was left alone, and waited.
He went up to the mirror and began to look at himself
And put his tie straight. After five minutes
They brought him the receipt. He took it and went away.
But the old mirror which had seen, and seen,
In the many years it had been
In existence, thousands of things and faces;
The old mirror was glad now
And was proud to have received upon itself
That entire beauty for a few minutes.
Scheme | XXX XXXXXXABX XXXXAB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111001 101010101 11110101 0101010101010 111101 110110101101 11101011101 11001010010 1101010 111101000111101 0111110110 1110011110101 1011011101 00101111 00101011010 0110111 01111010101 10101010110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 719 |
Words | 139 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 9, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 188 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 44 Views
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