Analysis of Voices
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
NOW I make a leaf of Voices--for I have found nothing mightier than
they are,
And I have found that no word spoken, but is beautiful, in its place.
O what is it in me that makes me tremble so at voices?
Surely, whoever speaks to me in the right voice, him or her I shall
follow,
As the water follows the moon, silently, with fluid steps, anywhere
around the globe.
All waits for the right voices;
Where is the practis'd and perfect organ? Where is the develop'd
Soul?
For I see every word utter'd thence, has deeper, sweeter, new sounds,
impossible on less terms.
I see brains and lips closed--tympans and temples unstruck,
Until that comes which has the quality to strike and to unclose, 10
Until that comes which has the quality to bring forth what lies
slumbering, forever ready, in all words.
Scheme | XXA BXXXX BXXXX XAXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111011101111101001 11 01111111011100011 111101111101110 10010111001111011 10 10101001100110110 0101 1110110 110100110110010 1 11110011011101011 0100111 11101110101 011111010011011 011111010011111 10001010011 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 877 |
Words | 147 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 5, 5, 4 |
Lines Amount | 17 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 115 Views
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"Voices" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/38235/voices>.
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