Analysis of The Tortoise in Eternity
Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)
Within my house of patterned horn
I sleep in such a bed
As men may keep before they're born
And after when they're dead.
Sticks and stones may break their bones,
And words may make them bleed;
There is not one of them who owns
An armour to his need.
Tougher than hide or lozenged bark,
Snow-storm and thunder proof,
And quick with sun, and thick with dark,
Is this my darling roof.
Men's troubled dreams of death and birth
Puls mother-o'-pearl to black;
I bear the rainbow bubble Earth
Square on my scornful back.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Traditional rhyme Quatrain |
Metre | 01111101 110101 11110111 010111 1011111 011111 11111111 110111 1011111 110101 01110111 111101 11011101 1101111 1101101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 518 |
Words | 97 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 100 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 06, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 102 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Tortoise in Eternity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10185/the-tortoise-in-eternity>.
Discuss this Elinor Morton Wylie poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In