Analysis of When and Why
Rabindranath Tagore 1861 (Kolkata) – 1941 (Kolkata)
When I bring you coloured toys, my child, I understand why there
is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are
painted in tints-when I give coloured toys to you, my child.
When I sing to make you dance, I truly know why there is music
in leaves, and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart
of the listening earth-when I sing to make you dance.
When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands, I know why
there is honey in the cup of the flower, and why fruits are
secretly filled with sweet juice-when I bring sweet things to your
greedy hands.
When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling, I surely
understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light, and
what delight the summer breeze brings to my body-when I kiss you
to make you smile.
Scheme | ABCDEFGBHIJKLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111011110111 1101111111001101 10011111011111 1111111110111110 010111110110101 1010011111111 1111111101111 111000110100111 10011111111111 101 111111111110110 01110110101010 1010101111101111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 796 |
Words | 154 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 44 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 618 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 152 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 20, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 115 Views
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"When and Why" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29623/when-and-why>.
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