Analysis of The Impercipient
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
(at a Cathedral Service)
THAT from this bright believing band
An outcast I should be,
That faiths by which my comrades stand
Seem fantasies to me,
And mirage-mists their Shining Land,
Is a drear destiny.
Why thus my soul should be consigned
To infelicity,
Why always I must feel as blind
To sights my brethren see,
Why joys they've found I cannot find,
Abides a mystery.
Since heart of mine knows not that ease
Which they know; since it be
That He who breathes All's Well to these
Breathes no All's Well to me,
My lack might move their sympathies
And Christian charity!
I am like a gazer who should mark
An inland company
Standing upfingered, with, "Hark! hark!
The glorious distant sea!"
And feel, "Alas, 'tis but yon dark
And wind-swept pine to me!"
Yet I would bear my shortcomings
With meet tranquillity,
But for the charge that blessed things
I'd liefer have unbe.
O, doth a bird deprived of wings
Go earth-bound wilfully!
. . . .
Enough. As yet disquiet clings
About us. Rest shall we.
Scheme | X ABABAB CACBCB DBDBDB EBEBEB FAFB FB FB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001010 11110101 11111 1111111 110011 00111101 101100 11111101 11 1111111 111101 11111101 010100 11111111 111111 11111111 111111 11111100 010100 11101111 11100 101111 0100101 01011111 011111 1111110 111 1101111 11011 11010111 111100 1 01110101 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,196 |
Words | 179 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 110 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 384 Views
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