Analysis of The Engine
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Into the gloom of the deep, dark night,
With panting breath and a startled scream;
Swift as a bird in sudden flight
Darts this creature of steel and steam.
Awful dangers are lurking nigh,
Rocks and chasms are near the track,
But straight by the light of its great white eye
It speeds through the shadows, dense and black.
Terrible thoughts and fierce desires
Trouble its mad heart many an hour,
Where burn and smoulder the hidden fires,
Coupled ever with might and power.
It hates, as a wild horse hates the rein,
The narrow track by vale and hill;
And shrieks with a cry of startled pain,
And longs to follow its own wild will.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Traditional rhyme Quatrain |
Metre | 010110111 110100101 11010101 11101101 10101101 1011101 1110111111 11101101 100101010 1011110110 110101010 101011010 111011101 01011101 011011101 011101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 633 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 124 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 177 Views
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"The Engine" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10840/the-engine>.
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