Analysis of Ghosts of a Lunatic Asylum
Stephen Vincent Benet 1898 (Bethlehem) – 1943 (New York City)
Here, where men's eyes were empty and as bright
As the blank windows set in glaring brick,
When the wind strengthens from the sea -- and night
Drops like a fog and makes the breath come thick;
By the deserted paths, the vacant halls,
One may see figures, twisted shades and lean,
Like the mad shapes that crawl an Indian screen,
Or paunchy smears you find on prison walls.
Turn the knob gently! There's the Thumbless Man,
Still weaving glass and silk into a dream,
Although the wall shows through him -- and the Khan
Journeys Cathay beside a paper stream.
A Rabbit Woman chitters by the door --
-- Chilly the grave-smell comes from the turned sod --
Come -- lift the curtain -- and be cold before
The silence of the eight men who were God!
Scheme | ABAB CDDC XEXE FGFG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111010011 1011010101 1011010101 1101010111 1001010101 1111010101 10111111001 1101111101 101101011 1101010101 101111001 1001010101 010101101 1001111011 1101001101 0101011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 747 |
Words | 140 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 143 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 97 Views
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"Ghosts of a Lunatic Asylum" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/35795/ghosts-of-a-lunatic-asylum>.
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