Analysis of Ballade Of Sleep
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
The hours are passing slow,
I hear their weary tread
Clang from the tower, and go
Back to their kinsfolk dead.
Sleep! death's twin brother dread!
Why dost thou scorn me so?
The wind's voice overhead
Long wakeful here I know,
And music from the steep
Where waters fall and flow.
Wilt thou not hear sue, Sleep?
All sounds that might bestow
Rest on the fever'd bed,
All slumb'rous sounds and low
Are mingled here and wed,
And bring no drowsihed.
Shy dreams flit to and fro
With shadowy hair dispread;
With wistful eyes that glow,
And silent robes that sweep.
Thou wilt not hear me; no?
Wilt thou not hear me, Sleep?
What cause hast thou to show
Of sacrifice unsped?
Of all thy slaves below
I most have laboured
With service sung and said;
Have cull'd such buds as blow,
Soft poppies white and red,
Where thy still gardens grow,
And Lethe's waters weep.
Why, then, art thou my foe?
Wilt thou not hear me, Sleep?
Prince, ere the dark be shred
By golden shafts, ere now
And long the shadows creep:
Lord of the wand of lead,
Soft-footed as the snow,
Wilt thou not hear me, Sleep!
Scheme | ababbabacac ababbabacaC ababbabacaC bxcbaC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101101 111101 1101001 11111 111101 111111 011101 11111 010101 110101 111111 111101 110101 11101 110101 0111 111101 110011 110111 010111 111111 111111 111111 1101 111101 1111 110101 111111 110101 111101 01101 111111 111111 110111 110111 01011 110111 110101 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,048 |
Words | 203 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 11, 11, 6 |
Lines Amount | 39 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 207 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 125 Views
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