Analysis of Ballad of Broken Flutes
Edwin Arlington Robinson 1869 – 1935
In dreams I crossed a barren land,
A land of ruin, far away;
Around me hung on every hand
A deathful stillness of decay;
And silent, as in bleak dismay
That song should thus forsaken be,
On that forgotten ground there lay
The broken flutes of Arcady.
The forest that was all so grand
When pipes and tabors had their sway
Stood leafless now, a ghostly band
Of skeletons in cold array.
A lonely surge of ancient spray
Told of an unforgetful sea,
But iron blows had hushed for aye
The broken flutes of Arcady.
No more by summer breezes fanned,
The place was desolate and gray;
But still my dream was to command
New life into that shrunken clay.
I tried it. Yes, you scan to-day,
With uncommiserating glee,
The songs of one who strove to play
The broken flutes of Arcady.
So, Rock, I join the common fray,
To fight where Mammon may decree;
And leave, to crumble as they may,
The broken flutes of Arcady.
Scheme | ababbcbA ababbcxA ababbcbA bcbA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110101 01110101 011111001 0110101 01010101 11110101 11010111 010111 01011111 1101111 11010101 11000101 01011101 11111 11011111 010111 11110101 01110001 11111101 11011101 11111111 111 01111111 010111 11110101 1111101 01110111 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 912 |
Words | 171 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 176 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 42 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 139 Views
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