Analysis of Dirge in Woods

George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)



A wind sways the pines,
And below
Not a breath of wild air;
Still as the mosses that glow
On the flooring and over the lines
Of the roots here and there.
The pine-tree drops its dead;
They are quiet, as under the sea.
Overhead, overhead
Rushes life in a race,
As the clouds the clouds chase;
And we go,
And we drop like the fruits of the tree,
Even we,
Even so.


Scheme ABCBACDEDFFBEEB
Poetic Form Tetractys  (33%)
Metre 01101 001 101111 1101011 101001001 101101 011111 111011001 101101 101001 101011 011 011101101 101 101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 355
Words 75
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 275
Words per stanza (avg) 73
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 05, 2023

22 sec read
396

George Meredith

George Meredith was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. more…

All George Meredith poems | George Meredith Books

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