Analysis of In The Dials

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



To GARRYOWEN upon an organ ground
Two girls are jigging. Riotously they trip,
With eyes aflame, quick bosoms, hand on hip,
As in the tumult of a witches' round.
Youngsters and youngsters round them prance and bound.
Two solemn babes twirl ponderously, and skip.
The artist's teeth gleam from his bearded lip.
High from the kennel howls a tortured hound.
The music reels and hurtles, and the night
Is full of stinks and cries; a naphtha-light
Flares from a barrow; battered and obtused
With vices, wrinkles, life and work and rags,
Each with her inch of clay, two loitering hags
Look on dispassionate--critical--something 'mused.


Scheme ABBAABBACCADDE
Poetic Form
Metre 11011101 1111111 110111111 1001010101 1001011101 11011101 0101111101 1101010101 010101001 1111010101 110101001 1101010101 11011111001 110100100101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 623
Words 106
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 498
Words per stanza (avg) 104
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
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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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