Analysis of After Long Drought
Mark Van Doren 1894 (Vermilion County) – 1972 (Torrington)
After long drought, commotion in the sky;
After dead silence, thunder. Then it comes,
The rain. It slashes leaves, and doubly drums
On tin and shingle; beats and bends awry
The flower heads; puddles dust, and with a sigh
Like love sinks into grasses, where it hums
As bees did once, among chrysanthemums
And asters when the summer thought to die.
The whole world dreamed of this, and has it now.
Nor was the waking easy. The dull root
Is jealous of its death; the sleepy brow
Smiles in its slumber; and a heart can fear
The very flood it longed for, roaring near.
The spirit best remembers being mute.
Scheme | ABBAABBA CDCEED |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011010001 1011010111 0111010101 1101010101 01011010101 1110110111 1111010100 0101010111 0111110111 1101010011 1101110101 1011000111 0101111101 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 609 |
Words | 112 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 236 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 55 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 100 Views
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"After Long Drought" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/26547/after-long-drought>.
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