Analysis of Pan
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
This Pan is but an idle god, I guess,
Since all the fair midsummer of my dreams
He loiters listlessly by woody streams,
Soaking the lush glooms up with laziness;
Or drowsing while the maiden-winds caress
Him prankishly, and powder him with gleams
Of sifted sunshine. And he ever seems
Drugged with a joy unutterable-- unless
His low pipes whistle hints of it far out
Across the ripples to the dragon-fly
That like a wind-born blossom blown about,
Drops quiveringly down, as though to die--
Then lifts and wavers on, as if in doubt
Whether to fan his wings or fly without.
Scheme | ABBCABBADEDEDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110111 1101110111 111001101 1001111100 111010101 11010111 110101101 1101101 1111011111 0101010101 1101110101 1111111 110111101 1011111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 566 |
Words | 104 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 453 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 102 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 31 sec read
- 111 Views
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"Pan" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21004/pan>.
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