Analysis of Mary and Gabriel
Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)
Young Mary, loitering once her garden way,
Felt a warm splendour grow in the April day,
As wine that blushes water through. And soon,
Out of the gold air of the afternoon,
One knelt before her: hair he had, or fire,
Bound back above his ears with golden wire,
Baring the eager marble of his face.
Not man's nor woman's was the immortal grace
Rounding the limbs beneath that robe of white,
And lighting the proud eyes with changeless light,
Incurious. Calm as his wings, and fair,
That presence filled the garden.
She stood there,
Saying, "What would you, Sir?"
He told his word,
"Blessed art thou of women!" Half she heard,
Hands folded and face bowed, half long had known,
The message of that clear and holy tone,
That fluttered hot sweet sobs about her heart;
Such serene tidings moved such human smart.
Her breath came quick as little flakes of snow.
Her hands crept up her breast. She did but know
It was not hers. She felt a trembling stir
Within her body, a will too strong for her
That held and filled and mastered all. With eyes
Closed, and a thousand soft short broken sighs,
She gave submission; fearful, meek, and glad. . . .
She wished to speak. Under her breasts she had
Such multitudinous burnings, to and fro,
And throbs not understood; she did not know
If they were hurt or joy for her; but only
That she was grown strange to herself, half lonely,
All wonderful, filled full of pains to come
And thoughts she dare not think, swift thoughts and dumb,
Human, and quaint, her own, yet very far,
Divine, dear, terrible, familiar . . .
Her heart was faint for telling; to relate
Her limbs' sweet treachery, her strange high estate,
Over and over, whispering, half revealing,
Weeping; and so find kindness to her healing.
'Twixt tears and laughter, panic hurrying her,
She raised her eyes to that fair messenger.
He knelt unmoved, immortal; with his eyes
Gazing beyond her, calm to the calm skies;
Radiant, untroubled in his wisdom, kind.
His sheaf of lilies stirred not in the wind.
How should she, pitiful with mortality,
Try the wide peace of that felicity
With ripples of her perplexed shaken heart,
And hints of human ecstasy, human smart,
And whispers of the lonely weight she bore,
And how her womb within was hers no more
And at length hers?
Being tired, she bowed her head;
And said, "So be it!"
The great wings were spread
Showering glory on the fields, and fire.
The whole air, singing, bore him up, and higher,
Unswerving, unreluctant. Soon he shone
A gold speck in the gold skies; then was gone.
The air was colder, and grey. She stood alone.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFXFCGGHHIIJJCCKKL LJJMMNNXCOOPPCCKKQQMMIIRRXSXSCCHX H |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010010101 1011100101 1111010101 110111001 11010111110 11011111010 1001010111 11110100101 1001011111 010011111 1111101 1101010 111 101111 1111 111110111 1100111111 0101110101 1101110101 1011011101 0111110111 0111011111 11101101001 01010011110 1101010111 1001011101 1101010101 1111100111 1110101 011011111 11011110110 11111101110 1100111111 0111111101 1001011101 011100010 0111110101 01110001101 100101001010 10011101010 11010101000 1101111100 1101010111 1001011011 10001001101 1111011001 11110010100 1011110100 1101001101 01110100101 0101010111 0101011011 0110 10101101 01111 01101 10010101010 01110111010 0101111 0110011111 01110011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,633 |
Words | 461 |
Sentences | 31 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 27, 33, 1 |
Lines Amount | 61 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 663 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 157 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 2:18 min read
- 59 Views
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"Mary and Gabriel" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33701/mary-and-gabriel>.
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