Analysis of To Flush, My Dog
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
Loving friend, the gift of one
Who her own true faith has run
Through thy lower nature,
Be my benediction said
With my hand upon thy head,
Gentle fellow-creature!
Like a lady's ringlets brown,
Flow thy silken ears adown
Either side demurely
Of thy silver-suited breast
Shining out from all the rest
Of thy body purely.
Darkly brown thy body is,
Till the sunshine striking this
Alchemise its dullness,
When the sleek curls manifold
Flash all over into gold
With a burnished fulness.
Underneath my stroking hand,
Startled eyes of hazel bland
Kindling, growing larger,
Up thou leapest with a spring,
Full of prank and curveting,
Leaping like a charger.
Leap! thy broad tail waves a light,
Leap! thy slender feet are bright,
Canopied in fringes;
Leap! those tasselled ears of thine
Flicker strangely, fair and fine
Down their golden inches
Yet, my pretty, sportive friend,
Little is't to such an end
That I praise thy rareness;
Other dogs may be thy peers
Haply in these drooping ears
And this glossy fairness.
But of thee it shall be said,
This dog watched beside a bed
Day and night unweary,
Watched within a curtained room
Where no sunbeam brake the gloom
Round the sick and dreary.
Roses, gathered for a vase,
In that chamber died apace,
Beam and breeze resigning;
This dog only, waited on,
Knowing that when light is gone
Love remains for shining.
Other dogs in thymy dew
Tracked the hares and followed through
Sunny moor or meadow;
This dog only, crept and crept
Next a languid cheek that slept,
Sharing in the shadow.
Other dogs of loyal cheer
Bounded at the whistle clear,
Up the woodside hieing;
This dog only, watched in reach
Of a faintly uttered speech
Or a louder sighing.
And if one or two quick tears
Dropped upon his glossy ears
Or a sigh came double,
Up he sprang in eager haste,
Fawning, fondling, breathing fast,
In a tender trouble.
And this dog was satisfied
If a pale thin hand would glide
Down his dewlaps sloping, --
Which he pushed his nose within,
After, -- platforming his chin
On the palm left open.
This dog, if a friendly voice
Call him now to blither choice
Than such chamber-keeping,
'Come out!' praying from the door, --
Presseth backward as before,
Up against me leaping.
Therefore to this dog will I,
Tenderly not scornfully,
Render praise and favor:
With my hand upon his head,
Is my benediction said
Therefore and for ever.
And because he loves me so,
Better than his kind will do
Often man or woman,
Give I back more love again
Than dogs often take of men,
Leaning from my Human.
Blessings on thee, dog of mine,
Pretty collars make thee fine,
Sugared milk make fat thee!
Pleasures wag on in thy tail,
Hands of gentle motion fail
Nevermore, to pat thee
Downy pillow take thy head,
Silken coverlid bestead,
Sunshine help thy sleeping!
No fly's buzzing wake thee up,
No man break thy purple cup
Set for drinking deep in.
Whiskered cats arointed flee,
Sturdy stoppers keep from thee
Cologne distillations;
Nuts lie in thy path for stones,
And thy feast-day macaroons
Turn to daily rations!
Mock I thee, in wishing weal? --
Tears are in my eyes to feel
Thou art made so straitly,
Blessing needs must straiten too, --
Little canst thou joy or do,
Thou who lovest greatly.
Yet be blessed to the height
Of all good and all delight
Pervious to thy nature;
Only loved beyond that line,
With a love that answers thine,
Loving fellow-creature!
Scheme | AABCCB XADEED FGHIIF JJBKKB LLFMMX NNGOOH CCBPPD QQKXXK RRSTTS UUKVVK XOWXXW XXKYYA ZZK1 1 K XDBCCB SRA2 2 A MMD3 3 D CCK4 4 Y DDFXFX DXDRRD LLBMMB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (32%) |
Metre | 1010111 1011111 111010 110101 1110111 101010 101011 111011 101010 1110101 1011101 111010 1011101 101101 1110 101110 1110011 10101 011101 1011101 101010 111101 11101 101010 1111101 1110111 1010 111111 1010101 111010 111011 10111111 111110 1011111 101101 011010 1111111 1110101 1011 101011 111101 101010 1010101 0110101 101010 1110101 1011111 101110 101011 1010101 10111 1110101 1010111 10001 1011101 1010101 1011 1110101 1010101 101010 0111111 1011101 101110 1110101 10100101 001010 011110 1011111 11110 1111101 10111 101110 1110101 111111 111010 1110101 110101 101110 111111 10011 101010 1110111 110101 10110 0011111 1011111 101110 1111101 1110111 101110 1011111 1010111 101111 1011011 1110101 10111 1010111 1011 11110 1110111 1111101 111010 1111 1010111 011 1101111 01111 111010 1110101 1101111 11111 101111 1011111 11110 111101 1110101 11110 1010111 1011101 101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 3,454 |
Words | 600 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 20 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 120 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 133 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 06, 2023
- 3:00 min read
- 141 Views
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"To Flush, My Dog" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10406/to-flush%2C-my-dog>.
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