Analysis of C.L.M.
John Masefield 1878 (Ledbury) – 1967 (Abingdon)
In the dark womb where I began
My mother's life made me a man.
Through all the months of human birth
Her beauty fed my common earth.
I cannot see, nor breathe, nor stir,
But through the death of some of her.
Down in the darkness of the grave
She cannot see the life she gave.
For all her love, she cannot tell
Whether I use it ill or well,
Nor knock at dusty doors to find
Her beauty dusty in the mind.
If the grave's gates could be undone,
She would not know her little son,
I am so grown. If we should meet
She would pass by me in the street,
Unless my soul's face let her see
My sense of what she did for me.
What have I done to keep in mind
My debt to her and womankind?
What woman's happier life repays
Her for those months of wretched days?
For all my mouthless body leeched
Ere Birth's releasing hell was reached?
What have I done, or tried, or said
In thanks to that dear woman dead?
Men triumph over women still,
Men trample women's rights at will,
And man's lust roves the world untamed.
- - - - - -
O grave, keep shut lest I be shamed.
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF GGHHII FFJJFX KKLLF X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 00111101 11011101 11011101 01011101 11011111 11011110 10010101 11010111 11011101 10111111 11110111 01010001 10111101 11110101 11111111 11111001 01111101 11111111 11111101 111001 11010011 01111101 1111101 11010111 11111111 01111101 11010101 11010111 0111011 1 11111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,054 |
Words | 219 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 114 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 33 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 19, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 136 Views
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"C.L.M." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55952/c.l.m.>.
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