Analysis of Beggars
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
She had a tall man's height or more;
Her face from summer's noontide heat
No bonnet shaded, but she wore
A mantle, to her very feet
Descending with a graceful flow,
And on her head a cap as white as new-fallen snow.
Her skin was of Egyptian brown:
Haughty, as if her eye had seen
Its own light to a distance thrown,
She towered, fit person for a Queen
To lead those ancient Amazonian files;
Or ruling Bandit's wife among the Grecian isles.
Advancing, forth she stretched her hand
And begged an alms with doleful plea
That ceased not; on our English land
Such woes, I knew, could never be;
And yet a boon I gave her, for the creature
Was beautiful to see-a weed of glorious feature.
I left her, and pursued my way;
And soon before me did espy
A pair of little Boys at play,
Chasing a crimson butterfly;
The taller followed with his hat in hand,
Wreathed round with yellow flowers the gayest of the land.
The other wore a rimless crown
With leaves of laurel stuck about;
And, while both followed up and down,
Each whooping with a merry shout,
In their fraternal features I could trace
Unquestionable lines of that wild Suppliant's face.
Yet 'they', so blithe of heart, seemed fit
For finest tasks of earth or air:
Wings let them have, and they might flit
Precursors to Aurora's car,
Scattering fresh flowers; though happier far, I ween,
To hunt their fluttering game o'er rock and level green.
They dart across my path-but lo,
Each ready with a plaintive whine!
Said I, 'not half an hour ago
Your Mother has had alms of mine.'
'That cannot be,' one answered-'she is dead:'-
I looked reproof-they saw-but neither hung his head.
'She has been dead, Sir, many a day.'-
'Hush, boys! you're telling me a lie;
It was your Mother, as I say!'
And, in the twinkling of an eye,
'Come! Come!' cried one, and without more ado,
Off to some other play the joyous Vagrants flew!
Scheme | ABABCC DEXEFF GHGHII JHJKGG DLDLMM NXNXDE COCOPP JKJKQQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011111 0111011 11010111 01010101 01010101 0101011111101 01110101 10110111 11110101 110110101 1111001001 11011010101 01011101 01111101 111110101 11111101 01011101010 11001101110010 11000111 01011110 01110111 1001010 0101011101 111101001101 0101011 11110101 01110101 11010101 0101010111 01000111111 11111111 11011111 11110111 010111 1001101100111 11110011010101 11011111 11010101 111111001 11011111 1101110111 11111110111 111111001 11110101 11110111 000100111 1111001101 111101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,826 |
Words | 349 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 23, 2023
- 1:46 min read
- 203 Views
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"Beggars" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/42146/beggars>.
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