Analysis of To Italy. (From Filicaja)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
Italy! Italy! thou who'rt doomed to wear
The fatal gift of beauty and possess
The dower funest of infinite wretchedness
Written upon thy forehead by despair;
Ah! would that thou wert stronger or less fair,
That they might fear thee more or love thee less,
Who in the splendour of thy loveliness
Seem wasting, yet to mortal combat dare!
Then from the Alps I should not see descending
Such torrents of armed men, nor Gallic horde
Drinking the wave of Po, distained with gore,
Nor should I see thee girded with a sword
Not thine, and with the stranger's arm contending,
Victor or vanquished, slave for evermore.
Scheme | ABBAABBACDEDCE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010011111 0101110001 01111001 1001110101 1111110111 1111111111 1001111 1101110101 11011111010 1101111101 100111111 111111101 11010101010 101101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 603 |
Words | 109 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 485 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 107 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 83 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To Italy. (From Filicaja)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18967/to-italy.-%28from-filicaja%29>.
Discuss this Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In