Analysis of Brahma

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)



If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanished gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.


Scheme AXAX BCBC DADA XEXE
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 10110111 11011111 11110101 11010101 11011111 101101 01011101 01111101 11011111 11111101 11010001 01010101 01111101 010101010 11110101 110111110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 535
Words 116
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 102
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

34 sec read
195

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. more…

All Ralph Waldo Emerson poems | Ralph Waldo Emerson Books

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