Analysis of A Lament
Victor Marie Hugo 1802 (Besançon) – 1885 (Paris)
'O paths whereon wild grasses wave,
O valleys, hillsides, forests hoar!
Why are ye silent as the grave?'
'For one who came, and comes no more!'
'Why is thy window closed of late?
And why thy garden in its sere?
O house! where doth thy master wait?'
'I only know he is not here.'
'Good dog, thou watchest; yet no hand
Will feed thee. In the house is none.
Whom weepest thou, child?' 'My father.' 'And,
O wife! whom weepest thou?' 'The Gone.'
'Where is he gone?' 'Into the dark.'
'O sad and ever-plaining surge!
Whence art thou?' 'From the convict-bark.'
'And why thy mournful voice?' 'A dirge.'
Scheme | ABAB CXCX XXXX DEDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) |
Metre | 1111101 1101101 11110101 11110111 11110111 01110011 11111101 11011111 1111111 11100111 11111101 1111111 1111101 1101011 11110101 01110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 589 |
Words | 124 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 107 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 68 Views
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"A Lament" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37573/a-lament>.
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