Analysis of Benjamin Fraser
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
Their spirits beat upon mine
Like the wings of a thousand butterflies.
I closed my eyes and felt their spirits vibrating.
I closed my eyes, yet I knew when their lashes
Fringed their cheeks from downcast eyes,
And when they turned their heads;
And when their garments clung to them,
Or fell from them, in exquisite draperies.
Their spirits watched my ecstasy
With wide looks of starry unconcern.
Their spirits looked upon my torture;
They drank it as it were the water of life;
With reddened cheeks, brightened eyes,
The rising flame of my soul made their spirits gilt,
Like the wings of a butterfly drifting suddenly into sunlight.
And they cried to me for life, life, life.
But in taking life for myself,
In seizing and crushing their souls,
As a child crushes grapes and drinks
From its palms the purple juice,
I came to this wingless void,
Where neither red, nor gold, nor wine,
Nor the rhythm of life are known.
Scheme | ABCDBEFGHIJKBLMKNOPQRAS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101011 101101010 111101110100 11111111110 111111 011111 01110111 11110100100 11011100 11111001 110101110 11111001011 111101 010111111101 101101010100011 011111111 1010111 01001011 10110101 1110101 111111 11011111 10101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 902 |
Words | 165 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 23 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 728 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 163 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 109 Views
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