Analysis of In The Edgware Road
Francis William Lauderdale Adams 1862 – 1893
(TO LORD——)
WILL you not buy? She asks you, my lord, you
Who know the points desirable in such.
She does not say that she is perfect. True,
She's not too pleasant to the sight or touch.
But then — neither are you!
Her cheeks are rather fallen in; a mist
Glazes her eyes, for all their hungry glare.
Her lips do not breathe balmy when they're kissed.
And yet she's not more loathsome than, I swear,
Your grandmother at whist.
My lord, she will admit, and need not frame
Excuses for herself, that she's not chaste.
First a young lover had her; then she came
From one man's to another's arms, with haste.
Your mother did the same.
Moreover, since she's married, once or twice
She's sold herself for certain things at night.
To sell one's body for the highest price
Of social ease and power, all girls think right.
Your sister did it thrice.
What, you'll not buy? You'll curse at her instead? —
Her children are alone, at home, quite near.
These winter streets, so gay at nights, 'tis said,
Have 'ticed the wanton out. She could not hear
Her children cry for bread!
Scheme | ABCBCBDEDEAFGFGFHIHIHJKJLJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11 1111111111 1101010001 1111111011 1111010111 111011 0111010001 1001111101 0111110111 0111110111 11011 1111010111 0101011111 1011010111 1111010111 110101 0101110111 1101110111 1111010101 11010101111 110111 1111111001 0101011111 1101111111 1101011111 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,052 |
Words | 199 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 26 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 806 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 197 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 38 Views
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