Analysis of Three-Fold
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Somewhere I've read a thoughtful mind's reflection:
'All perfect things are three-fold'; and I know
Our love has the rare symbol of perfection;
The brain's response, the warm blood's rapturous glow,
The soul's sweet language, silent and unspoken.
All these unite us with a deathless tie.
For when our frail, clay tenement is broken,
Our spirits will be lovers still, on high.
My dearest wish, you speak before I word it.
You understand the workings of heart.
My soul's thought, breathed where only God has heard it,
You fathom with your strange divining art.
And Like a fire, that cheers, and lights, and blesses,
And floods a mansion full of happy heat,
So does the subtle warmth of your caresses,
Pervade me with rapture, keen as sweet.
And so sometimes, as you and I together
Exult in all dear love's three-fold delights,
I cannot help but vaguely wonder whether
When our free souls attain their spirit heights,
E'en if we reach that upper realm where God is,
And find the tales of heavenly glory true,
I wonder if we shall not miss our bodies,
And long, at times, for hours on earth we knew.
As now, we sometimes pray to leave our prison
And soar beyond all physical demands,
So may we not sigh, when we have arisen,
For just one old-time touch of lips and hands?
I know, dear heart, a thought like this seems daring
Concerning God's vast Government above,
Yet, even There, I shrink from wholly sparing
One element, from this, our Three-fold Love.
Scheme | ABABACAC DEDEFGFG HIHIFJXJ AKAKLMLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101010 1011111011 101101101010 01010111001 01110100010 11111011 111011100110 10101110111 11011101111 10101011 11111101111 1101110101 010101101010 0101011101 11010111010 011110111 01011101010 0101111101 11011101010 11011011101 111111101111 01011100101 110111111010 01111101111 111011111010 0101110001 11111111010 1111111101 11110111110 0101110001 11011111010 11001110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,461 |
Words | 259 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 283 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 64 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 42 Views
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"Three-Fold" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10947/three-fold>.
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