Analysis of The Wild Rose And The Snowdrop
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
The Snowdrop is the prophet of the flowers;
It lives and dies upon its bed of snows;
And like a thought of spring it comes and goes,
Hanging its head beside our leafless bowers.
The sun's betrothing kiss it never knows,
Nor all the glowing joy of golden showers;
But ever in a placid, pure repose,
More like a spirit with its look serene,
Droops its pale cheek veined thro' with infant green.
Queen of her sisters is the sweet Wild Rose,
Sprung from the earnest sun and ripe young June;
The year's own darling and the Summer's Queen!
Lustrous as the new-throned crescent moon.
Much of that early prophet look she shows,
Mixed with her fair espoused blush which glows,
As if the ethereal fairy blood were seen;
Like a soft evening over sunset snows,
Half twilight violet shade, half crimson sheen.
Twin-born are both in beauteousness, most fair
In all that glads the eye and charms the air;
In all that wakes emotions in the mind
And sows sweet sympathies for human kind.
Twin-born, albeit their seasons are apart,
They bloom together in the thoughtful heart;
Fair symbols of the marvels of our state,
Mute speakers of the oracles of fate!
For each, fulfilling nature's law, fulfils
Itself and its own aspirations pure;
Living and dying; letting faith ensure
New life when deathless Spring shall touch the hills.
Each perfect in its place; and each content
With that perfection which its being meant:
Divided not by months that intervene,
But linked by all the flowers that bud between.
Forever smiling thro' its season brief,
The one in glory and the one in grief:
Forever painting to our museful sight,
How lowlihead and loveliness unite.
Born from the first blind yearning of the earth
To be a mother and give happy birth,
Ere yet the northern sun such rapture brings,
Lo, from her virgin breast the Snowdrop springs;
And ere the snows have melted from the grass,
And not a strip of greensward doth appear,
Save the faint prophecy its cheeks declare,
Alone, unkissed, unloved, behold it pass!
While in the ripe enthronement of the year,
Whispering the breeze, and wedding the rich air
With her so sweet, delicious bridal breath, -
Odorous and exquisite beyond compare,
And starr'd with dews upon her forehead clear,
Fresh-hearted as a Maiden Queen should be
Who takes the land's devotion as her fee, -
The Wild Rose blooms, all summer for her dower,
Nature's most beautiful and perfect flower.
Scheme | ABBABABCC BDCDBBCBC EEFFGGHH AIIXJJCCKKLL MMNNOPEOPEXEPQQXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 0110101010 1101011111 0101111101 101101101010 01111101 11010111010 1100010101 1101011101 1111111101 1101010111 1101010111 0111000101 101011101 1111010111 110101111 110010010101 101101011 1110011101 11110111 0111010101 0111010001 0111001101 11010110101 1101000101 11010101101 1101010011 110101011 010110101 1001010101 111111101 1010110110 1101011101 010111101 11110101101 0101011101 0101000101 0101011011 11011 1101110101 1101001101 1101011101 110101011 0101110101 010111101 1011001101 011010111 10011101 10001010011 1011010101 10001000101 0111010101 1101010111 1101010101 0111110101 10110000110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,403 |
Words | 419 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 8, 12, 17 |
Lines Amount | 55 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 380 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 83 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:07 min read
- 68 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Wild Rose And The Snowdrop" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/15673/the-wild-rose-and-the-snowdrop>.
Discuss this George Meredith poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In