Analysis of The Solitary Lyre

George Darley 1795 (Dublin) – 1846 (London)



Wherefore, unlaurell'd Boy,
Whom the contemptuous Muse will not inspire,
With a sad kind of joy
Still sing'st thou to thy solitary lyre?

The melancholy winds
Pour through unnumber'd reeds their idle woes,
And every Naiad finds
A stream to weep her sorrow as it flows.

Her sighs unto the air
The Wood-maid's native oak doth broadly tell,
And Echo's fond despair
Intelligible rocks re-syllable.

Wherefore then should not I,
Albeit no haughty Muse my heart inspire,
Fated of grief to die,
Impart it to my solitary lyre?


Scheme ABAB XCXC DXDX EBEB
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 111 10010011101 101111 1111111001 01001 11111101 010011 0111010111 011001 0111011101 010101 0100011100 11111 01011011101 101111 011111001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 509
Words 90
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 103
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

28 sec read
119

George Darley

George Darley was an Irish poet, novelist, and critic. more…

All George Darley poems | George Darley Books

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