Analysis of The Optimist
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
The fields were bleak and sodden. Not a wing
Or note enlivened the depressing wood,
A soiled and sullen, stubborn snowdrift stood
Beside the roadway. Winds came muttering
Of storms to be, and brought the chilly sting
Of icebergs in their breath. Stalled cattle mooed
Forth plaintive pleadings for the earth's green food.
No gleam, no hint of hope in anything.
The sky was blank and ashen, like the face
Of some poor wretch who drains life's cup too fast.
Yet, swaying to and fro, as if to fling
About chilled Nature its lithe arms of grace,
Smiling with promise in the wintry blast,
The optimistic Willow spoke of spring.
Scheme | ABBAABXA CDACDA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101010101 1101000101 010101011 010111100 1111010101 1100111101 1101010111 111111010 0111010101 1111111111 1101011111 0111011111 1011000101 00101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 619 |
Words | 112 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 247 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
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