Analysis of A Frostry Night
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
Mother: Alice, dear, what ails you,
Dazed and white and shaken?
Has the chill night numbed you?
Is it fright you have taken?
Alice: Mother I am very well,
I felt never better;
Mother, do not hold me so,
Let me write my letter.
Mother: Sweet, my dear, what ails you?
Alice: No, but I am well.
The night was cold and frosty,
There's no more to tell.
Mother: Ay, the night was frosty,
Coldly gaped the moon,
Yet the birds seemed twittering
Through green boughs of June.
Soft and thick the snow lay,
Stars danced in the sky.
Not all the lambs of May-day
Skip so bold and high.
Your feet were dancing, Alice,
Seemed to dance on air,
You looked a ghost or angel
In the starlight there.
Your eyes were frosted starlight,
Your heart, fire, and snow.
Who was it said 'I love you?'
Alice: Mother, let me go!
Scheme | ABAB CDED A CFC FGHG IHIX XJXJ XEA E |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101111 101010 101111 1111110 101011101 111010 1011111 111110 10111111 1011111 0111010 11111 10101110 10101 10111 11111 101011 11001 1101111 11101 1101010 11111 1101110 0011 110101 111001 1111111 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 778 |
Words | 155 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 3, 1 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 67 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 17 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 84 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Frostry Night" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31091/a-frostry-night>.
Discuss this Robert Graves 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