Analysis of The Great Drum



The circle of the Earth is the head of a great drum;
With the day, it moves upward - booming;
With the night, it moves downward - booming;
The day and the night are its song.

I am very small, as I dance upon the drum-head;
I am like a particle of dust, as I dance upon the drum-head;
Above me in the sky is the shining ball of the drumstick.

I dance upward with the day;
I dance downward with the night;
Some day I shall dance afar into space like a particle of dust.

Who is the Drummer who beats upon the earth-drum?
Who is the Drummer who makes me to dance his song?


Scheme ABBC DDX XXX AC
Poetic Form
Metre 0101011011011 101111010 101111010 01001111 1110111101011 11101001111101011 011001101011010 1110101 1110101 11111010111010011 110101101011 110101111111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 576
Words 118
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 3, 3, 2
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 108
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

35 sec read
118

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