Analysis of Robert Davidson
Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)
I grew spiritually fat living off the souls of men.
If I saw a soul that was strong
I wounded its pride and devoured its strength.
The shelters of friendship knew my cunning,
For where I could steal a friend I did so.
And wherever I could enlarge my power
By undermining ambition, I did so,
Thus to make smooth my own.
And to triumph over other souls,
Just to assert and prove my superior strength,
Was with me a delight,
The keen exhilaration of soul gymnastics.
Devouring souls, I should have lived forever.
But their undigested remains bred in me a deadly nephritis,
With fear, restlessness, sinking spirits,
Hatred, suspicion, vision disturbed.
I collapsed at last with a shriek.
Remember the acorn;
It does not devour other acorns.
Scheme | ABCDEFEGHCIJFEKLMNO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111000011010111 11101111 11011001011 0101101110 1111101111 00101101110 1100010111 111111 011010101 110101101001 111001 01001011010 010011111010 111011010101 111001010 100101001 10111101 010010 1110101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 726 |
Words | 131 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 19 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 585 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 129 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
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