Analysis of When I Heard At The Close Of The Day
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
WHEN I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv'd
with plaudits in the capitol, still it was not a happy night
for me that follow'd;
And else, when I carous'd, or when my plans were accomplish'd, still
I was not happy;
But the day when I rose at dawn from the bed of perfect health,
refresh'd, singing, inhaling the ripe breath of autumn,
When I saw the full moon in the west grow pale and disappear in the
morning light,
When I wander'd alone over the beach, and undressing, bathed,
laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise,
And when I thought how my dear friend, my lover, was on his way
coming, O then I was happy;
O then each breath tasted sweeter--and all that day my food nourish'd
me more--and the beautiful day pass'd well,
And the next came with equal joy--and with the next, at evening, came
my friend;
And that night, while all was still, I heard the waters roll slowly
continually up the shores,
I heard the hissing rustle of the liquid and sands, as directed to
me, whispering, to congratulate me, 10
For the one I love most lay sleeping by me under the same cover in
the cool night,
In the stillness, in the autumn moonbeams, his face was inclined
toward me,
And his arm lay lightly around my breast--and that night I was happy.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHBIJKELMNOEPQERBSEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011011111101 1100010011110101 11110 01111111100101 11110 101111111011011 0110010011110 1110110011100100 101 1110011001011 101011001011 011111111101111 10111110 1111101001111110 1100100111 0011110101011101 11 011111111010110 01000101 110101010100110101 110010101 101111110111001100 011 00100010111101 011 01111001110111110 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,434 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 26 |
Lines Amount | 26 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 979 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 265 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 81 Views
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