Analysis of Betrothed
Louise Bogan 1897 (Livermore Falls) – 1970 (New York City)
You have put your two hands upon me, and your mouth,
You have said my name as a prayer.
Here where trees are planted by the water
I have watched your eyes, cleansed from regret,
And your lips, closed over all that love cannot say,
My mother remembers the agony of her womb
And long years that seemed to promise more than this.
She says, "You do not love me,
You do not want me,
You will go away."
In the country whereto I go
I shall not see the face of my friend
Nor her hair the color of sunburnt grasses;
Together we shall not find
The land on whose hills bends the new moon
In air traversed of birds.
What have I thought of love?
I have said, "It is beauty and sorrow."
I have thought that it would bring me lost delights, and splendor
As a wind out of old time . . .
But there is only the evening here,
And the sound of willows
Now and again dipping their long oval leaves in the water.
Scheme | XXAXB XXCCB DXXXXX XDAX XXA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111011011 11111101 1111101010 111111101 011110111101 1100100100101 01111110111 1111111 11111 11101 0010111 111101111 1010101110 0101111 011111011 011011 111111 1111110010 11111111101010 1011111 111100101 00111 100110111010010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 924 |
Words | 181 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 6, 4, 3 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 137 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 47 Views
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"Betrothed" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26126/betrothed>.
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