Analysis of Blithe Dreams Arise To Greet Us

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



Blithe dreams arise to greet us,
And life feels clean and new,
For the old love comes to meet us
In the dawning and the dew.
O'erblown with sunny shadows,
O'ersped with winds at play,
The woodlands and the meadows
Are keeping holiday.
Wild foals are scampering, neighing,
Brave merles their hautboys blow:
Come! let us go a-maying
As in the Long-Ago.

Here we but peak and dwindle:
The clank of chain and crane,
The whir of crank and spindle
Bewilder heart and brain;
The ends of our endeavour
Are merely wealth and fame,
Yet in the still Forever
We're one and all the same;
Delaying, still delaying,
We watch the fading west:
Come! let us go a-maying,
Nor fear to take the best.

Yet beautiful and spacious
The wise, old world appears.
Yet frank and fair and gracious
Outlaugh the jocund years.
Our arguments disputing,
The universal Pan
Still wanders fluting--fluting -
Fluting to maid and man.
Our weary well-a-waying
His music cannot still:
Come! let us go a-maying,
And pipe with him our fill.

When wanton winds are flowing
Among the gladdening glass;
Where hawthorn brakes are blowing,
And meadow perfumes pass;
Where morning's grace is greenest,
And fullest noon's of pride;
Where sunset spreads serenest,
And sacred night's most wide;
Where nests are swaying, swaying,
And spring's fresh voices call,
Come! let us go a-maying,
And bless the God of all!


Scheme ababcdcdexEe fgfghihiejEj akakelelemEm enenxojoepEp
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111 011101 10111111 0010001 11101 11111 01001 11010 1111001 11111 111101 100101 1111010 011101 0111010 010101 01110010 110101 1001010 110101 0101010 110101 111101 111101 1100010 011101 1101010 1011 10100010 00101 11011 11101 1010101 110101 111101 0111101 1101110 01011 111110 01011 1101110 010111 1111 010111 1111010 011101 111101 010111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,319
Words 236
Sentences 14
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 12, 12, 12, 12
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 266
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:12 min read
50

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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