Analysis of Had I the Choice

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)



Had I the choice to tally greatest bards,
To limn their portraits, stately, beautiful, and emulate at will,
Homer with all his wars and warriors--Hector, Achilles, Ajax,
Or Shakespeare's woe-entangled Hamlet, Lear, Othello--Tennyson's fair ladies,
Meter or wit the best, or choice conceit to weild in perfect rhyme, delight of singers;
These, these, O sea, all these I'd gladly barter,
Would you the undulation of one wave, its trick to me transfer,
Or breathe one breath of yours upon my verse,
And leave its odor there.


Scheme ABAAACCAD
Poetic Form
Metre 1101110101 111101010001011 1011110100100101 1110101010101110 101101110111001101110 11111111010 1101111111101 1111110111 011101
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 529
Words 88
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 9
Lines Amount 9
Letters per line (avg) 45
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 406
Words per stanza (avg) 86
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

27 sec read
438

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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