Analysis of Running To Paradise

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



As I came over Windy Gap
They threw a halfpenny into my cap.
For I am running to paradise;
And all that I need do is to wish
And somebody puts his hand in the dish
To throw me a bit of salted fish:
And there the king is but as the beggar.

My brother Mourteen is worn out
With skelping his big brawling lout,
And I am running to paradise;
A poor life, do what he can,
And though he keep a dog and a gun,
A serving-maid and a serving-man:
And there the king is but as the beggar.

Poor men have grown to be rich men,
And rich men grown to be poor again,
And I am running to paradise;
And many a darling wit's grown dull
That tossed a bare heel when at school,
Now it has filled a old sock full:
And there the king is but as the beggar.

The wind is old and still at play
While I must hurty upon my way.
For I am running to paradise;
Yet never have I lit on a friend
To take my fancy like the wind
That nobody can buy or bind:
And there the king is but as the beggar.


Scheme aaBcccD eeBfxfD ggBxxxD hhBxiiD
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101 11010111 11110110 011111111 010111001 111011101 0101111010 1101111 1111101 01110110 0111111 011101001 010100101 0101111010 11111111 011111101 01110110 010010111 11011111 11110111 0101111010 01110111 11110111 11110110 110111101 11110101 111111 0101111010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 943
Words 208
Sentences 7
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 7
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 183
Words per stanza (avg) 52
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 07, 2023

1:02 min read
163

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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