Analysis of Pastoral
William Carlos Williams 1883 (Rutherford) – 1963 (Rutherford)
The little sparrows
hop ingenuously
about the pavement
quarreling
with sharp voices
over those things
that interest them.
But we who are wiser
shut ourselves in
on either hand
and no one knows
whether we think good
or evil.
Meanwhile,
the old man who goes about
gathering dog-lime
walks in the gutter
without looking up
and his tread
is more majestic than
that of the Episcopal minister
approaching the pulpit
of a Sunday.
These things
astonish me beyond words.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJAKBBLMHNOPHQRFS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (40%) |
Metre | 01010 11 01010 100 1110 1011 1101 111110 10010 1101 0111 10111 110 1 0111101 10011 10010 01101 011 110101 1100100100 010010 101 11 0101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 469 |
Words | 81 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 15 |
Words per line (avg) | 3 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 377 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 79 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 24 sec read
- 434 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Pastoral" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39680/pastoral>.
Discuss this William Carlos Williams poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In