Analysis of Formerly A Slave



The sufferance of her race is shown,
And retrospect of life,
Which now too late deliverance dawns upon;
Yet is she not at strife.

Her children's children they shall know
The good withheld from her;
And so her reverie takes prophetic cheer--
In spirit she sees the stir.

Far down the depth of thousand years,
And marks the revel shine;
Her dusky face is lit with sober light,
Sibylline, yet benign.


Scheme XAXA XBXB XCXC
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 0110111 01011 11110100101 111111 01010111 010110 01010010101 0101101 11011101 010101 011111101 1101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 394
Words 73
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 104
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

22 sec read
321

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American writer best known for the novel Moby-Dick. more…

All Herman Melville poems | Herman Melville Books

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