Analysis of Hermes
Francis Thompson 1859 (City of Preston, Lancashire) – 1907 (London)
Soothsay. Behold, with rod twy-serpented,
Hermes the prophet, twining in one power
The woman with the man. Upon his head
The cloudy cap, wherewith he hath in dower
The cloud's own virtue--change and counterchange,
To show in light, and to withdraw in pall,
As mortal eyes best bear. His lineage strange
From Zeus, Truth's sire, and maiden May--the all-
Illusive Nature. His fledged feet declare
That 'tis the nether self transdeified,
And the thrice-furnaced passions, which do bear
The poet Olympusward. In him allied
Both parents clasp; and from the womb of Nature
Stern Truth takes flesh in shows of lovely feature.
Scheme | ABACDEDFGAGABB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011111 10010100110 0101010111 010111101 01110101 1101010101 11011111001 11110010101 0101011101 1101011 001110111 01010101 11010101110 11110111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 613 |
Words | 104 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 489 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 102 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 31 sec read
- 108 Views
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"Hermes" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13913/hermes>.
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