Analysis of A Child's Laughter



ALL the bells of heaven may ring,
All the birds of heaven may sing,
All the wells on earth may spring,
All the winds on earth may bring
      All sweet sounds together---
Sweeter far than all things heard,
Hand of harper, tone of bird,
Sound of woods at sundawn stirred,
Welling water's winsome word,
      Wind in warm wan weather,

One thing yet there is, that none
Hearing ere its chime be done
Knows not well the sweetest one
Heard of man beneath the sun,
      Hoped in heaven hereafter;
Soft and strong and loud and light,
Very sound of very light
Heard from morning's rosiest height,
When the soul of all delight
      Fills a child's clear laughter.

Golden bells of welcome rolled
Never forth such notes, nor told
Hours so blithe in tones so bold,
As the radiant mouth of gold
      Here that rings forth heaven.
If the golden-crested wren
Were a nightingale---why, then,
Something seen and heard of men
Might be half as sweet as when
      Laughs a child of seven.


Scheme AAAABCCCCB DDDDBEEEEB FFFFDGGGGD
Poetic Form Etheree  (33%)
Metre 10111011 10111011 1011111 1011111 111010 1011111 1110111 111111 1010101 101110 1111111 1011111 1110101 1110101 1010010 1010101 1011101 111011 1011101 101110 1011101 1011111 10110111 10100111 111110 1010101 0010011 1010111 1111111 101110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 951
Words 173
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 10, 10, 10
Lines Amount 30
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 245
Words per stanza (avg) 57
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 22, 2023

52 sec read
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Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as Poems and Ballads, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Swinburne wrote about many taboo topics, such as lesbianism, cannibalism, sado-masochism, and anti-theism. His poems have many common motifs, such as the ocean, time, and death. Several historical people are featured in his poems, such as Sappho ("Sapphics"), Anactoria ("Anactoria"), Jesus ("Hymn to Proserpine": Galilaee, La. "Galilean") and Catullus ("To Catullus"). more…

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