Analysis of To Mrs. Macmarland
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)
IN Schnee der Alpen - so it runs
To those divine accords - and here
We dwell in Alpine snows and suns,
A motley crew, for half the year:
A motley crew, we dwell to taste -
A shivering band in hope and fear -
That sun upon the snowy waste,
That Alpine ether cold and clear.
Up from the laboured plains, and up
From low sea-levels, we arise
To drink of that diviner cup
The rarer air, the clearer skies;
For, as the great, old, godly King
From mankind's turbid valley cries,
So all we mountain-lovers sing:
I to the hills will lift mine eyes.
The bells that ring, the peaks that climb,
The frozen snow's unbroken curd
Might yet revindicate in rhyme
The pauseless stream, the absent bird.
In vain - for to the deeps of life
You, lady, you my heart have stirred;
And since you say you love my life,
Be sure I love you for the word.
Of kindness, here I nothing say -
Such loveless kindnesses there are
In that grimacing, common way,
That old, unhonoured social war.
Love but my dog and love my love,
Adore with me a common star -
I value not the rest above
The ashes of a bad cigar.
Scheme | AXABCBCB DEDEFEFE GHGHIHIH JKJXLKLK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111111 11010101 1101101 01011101 01011111 010010101 11010101 1110101 1101101 11110101 111111 01010101 11011101 1111101 11110101 11011111 01110111 01010101 11101 0110101 01110111 11011111 01111111 11111101 11011101 110111 01100101 111101 11110111 01110101 11010101 01010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,054 |
Words | 213 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 206 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 103 Views
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"To Mrs. Macmarland" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31733/to-mrs.-macmarland>.
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