Analysis of Song IV: Draw Near and Behold Me
William Morris 1834 (Walthamstow) – 1896 (London)
Love is enough: draw near and behold me
Ye who pass by the way to your rest and your laughter,
And are full of the hope of the dawn coming after;
For the strong of the world have bought me and sold me
And my house is all wasted from threshold to rafter.
--Pass by me, and hearken, and think of me not!
Cry out and come near; for my ears may not hearken,
And my eyes are grown dim as the eyes of the dying.
Is this the grey rack o'er the sun's face a-flying?
Or is it your faces his brightness that darken?
Comes a wind from the sea, or is it your sighing?
--Pass by me and hearken, and pity me not!
Ye know not how void is your hope and your living:
Depart with your helping lest yet ye undo me!
Ye know not that at nightfall she draweth near to me,
There is soft speech between us and words of forgiving
Till in dead of the midnight her kisses thrill through me.
--Pass by me and harken, and waken me not!
Wherewith will ye buy it, ye rich who behold me?
Draw out from your coffers your rest and your laughter,
And the fair gilded hope of the dawn coming after!
Nay this I sell not,--though ye bought me and sold me,--
For your house stored with such things from threshold to rafter.
--Pass by me, I hearken, and think of you not!
Scheme | ABBABC DEEDEC EAAEAC ABBABC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110011 1111011110110 0111011011010 101101111011 011111011110 1110101111 11011111111 0111111011010 1101110011010 111110110110 101101111110 1110101011 111111110110 011110111011 11111111111 1111011011010 101101010111 11101001011 11111111011 111110110110 0011011011010 111111111011 111111111110 1111101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,219 |
Words | 252 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 39 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 234 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 72 Views
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"Song IV: Draw Near and Behold Me" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/41138/song-iv%3A-draw-near-and-behold-me>.
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