Analysis of Sonnet IV: Thou Hast Thy Calling

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)



Thou hast thy calling to some palace-floor,
Most gracious singer of high poems! where
The dancers will break footing, from the care
Of watching up thy pregnant lips for more.
And dost thou lift this house's latch too poor
For hand of thine? and canst thou think and bear
To let thy music drip here unaware
In folds of golden fulness at my door?
Look up and see the casement broken in,
The bats and owlets builders in the roof!
My cricket chirps against thy mandolin.
Hush, call no echo up in further proof
Of desolation! there's a voice within
That weeps...as thou must sing...alone, aloof.


Scheme ABBACBBADEDEDE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111011101 1101011101 0101110101 1101110111 0111110111 1111011101 111101101 011101111 110101100 010110001 110101110 1111010101 101010101 1111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 585
Words 110
Sentences 11
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 463
Words per stanza (avg) 106
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
112

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. more…

All Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems | Elizabeth Barrett Browning Books

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