Analysis of Prophecy

Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)



I shall die hidden in a hut
In the middle of an alder wood,
With the back door blind and bolted shut,
And the front door locked for good.

I shall lie folded like a saint,
Lapped in a scented linen sheet,
On a bedstead striped with bright-blue paint,
Narrow and cold and neat.

The midnight will be glassy black
Behind the panes, with wind about
To set his mouth against a crack
And blow the candle out.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 11110001 001011101 101110101 0011111 11110101 10010101 10111111 100101 0111101 01011101 11110101 010101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 398
Words 80
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 105
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

24 sec read
69

Elinor Morton Wylie

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry." more…

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