Analysis of The Soldier's Wife

Robert Southey 1774 (Bristol) – 1843 (London)



Weary way-wanderer languid and sick at heart
Travelling painfully over the rugged road,
Wild-visag'd Wanderer! ah for thy heavy chance!

Sorely thy little one drags by thee bare-footed,
Cold is the baby that hangs at thy bending back
Meagre and livid and screaming its wretchedness.

Woe-begone mother, half anger, half agony,
As over thy shoulder thou lookest to hush the babe,
Bleakly the blinding snow beats in thy hagged face.

Thy husband will never return from the war again,
Cold is thy hopeless heart even as Charity-
Cold are thy famish'd babes-God help thee, widow'd One!


Scheme XXA XXA BXX XBX
Poetic Form
Metre 101100100111 100100100101 11100111101 101101111110 110101111101 101001011 11101101100 110110111101 1010110111 1101100110101 111101101100 111101111101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 575
Words 98
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 3
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 115
Words per stanza (avg) 24
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

30 sec read
146

Robert Southey

Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843. more…

All Robert Southey poems | Robert Southey Books

0 fans

Discuss this Robert Southey poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Soldier's Wife" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31900/the-soldier%27s-wife>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    June 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    27
    days
    13
    hours
    26
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem "Fire And Ice"?
    A Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    B Robert Frost
    C Edgar Allan Poe
    D Gerard Manley Hopkins