Analysis of Sunshine And Shadow
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Life has its shadows, as well as its sun;
Its lights and its shades, all twined together.
I tried to single them out, one by one,
Single and count them, determining whether
There was less blue than there was grey,
And more of the deep night than of the day.
But dear me, dear me, my task’s but begun,
And I am not half way into the sun.
For the longer I look on the bright side of earth,
The more of the beautiful do I discover;
And really, I never knew what life was worth
Till I searched the wide storehouse of happiness over.
It is filled from the cellar well up to the skies,
With things meant to gladden the heart and the eyes.
The doors are unlocked, you can enter each room,
That lies like a beautiful garden in bloom.
Yet life has its shadow, as well as its sun;
Earth has its storehouse of joy and sorrow.
But the first is so wide – and my task’s but begun –
That the last must be left for a far-distant morrow.
I will count up the blessings God gave in a row,
But dear me! When I get through them, I know
I shall have little tine left for the rest,
For life is a swift-flowing river at best.
Scheme | ABABCCAA DBDBEEFF AGAGGGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111111 1101111010 1111011111 10011010010 11111111 0110111101 1111111101 0111110101 101011101111 011010011010 01011011111 111011110010 111101011101 11111001001 01101111011 11101001001 1111111111 111111010 101111011101 1011111011010 111101011001 1111111111 1111011101 11101101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,111 |
Words | 224 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 281 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 74 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 1:07 min read
- 86 Views
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