Analysis of Sunrise

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



The clouds are withdrawn
And their thin-rippled mist,
That stream'd o'er the lawn
To the drowsy-eyed west.
Cold and grey
They slept in the way,
And shrank from the ray
Of the chariot East:
But now they are gone,
And the bounding light
Leaps thro' the bars
Of doubtful dawn;
Blinding the stars,
And blessing the sight;
Shedding delight
On all below;
Glimmering fields,
And wakening wealds,
And rising lark,
And meadows dark,
And idle rills,
And labouring mills,
And far-distant hills
Of the fawn and the doe.
The sun is cheered
And his path is cleared,
As he steps to the air
From his emerald cave,
His heel in the wave,
Most bright and bare;
In the tide of the sky
His radiant hair
From his temples fair
Blown back on high;
As forward he bends,
And upward ascends,
Timely and true,
To the breast of the blue;
His warm red lips
Kissing the dew,
Which sweetened drips
On his flower cupholders;
Every hue
From his gleaming shoulders
Shining anew
With colour sky-born,
As it washes and dips
In the pride of the morn.
Robes of azure,
Fringed with amber,
Fold upon fold
Of purple and gold,
Vine-leaf bloom,
And the grape's ripe gloom,
When season deep
In noontide leisure,
With clustering heap
The tendrils clamber
Full in the face
Of his hot embrace,
Fill'd with the gleams
Of his firmest beams.
Autumn flushes,
Roseate blushes,
Vermeil tinges,
Violet fringes,
Every hue
Of his flower cupholders,
O'er the clear ether
Mingled together,
Shining anew
From his gleaming shoulders!
Circling about
In a coronal rout,
And floating behind,
The way of the wind,
As forward he bends,
And upward ascends,
Timely and true,
To the breast of the blue.
His bright neck curved,
His clear limbs nerved,
Diamond keen
On his front serene,
While each white arm strains
To the racing reins,
As plunging, eyes flashing,
Dripping, and dashing,
His steeds triple grown
Rear up to his throne,
Ruffling the rest
Of the sea's blue breast,
From his flooding, flaming crimson crest!


Scheme abacdddeafgagffhigjjgkkhllmnnmommoPPQQrqrgQSQtrtuuvvwwxuxuyyzz1 2 G1 qGUuqs3 3 4 4 ppqq5 b6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 ccc
Poetic Form
Metre 01101 011101 111001 101011 101 11001 01101 101001 11111 00101 1101 1101 1001 01001 1001 1101 1001 011 0101 011 0101 011 01101 101001 0111 01111 111101 11101 11001 1101 001101 11001 11101 1111 11011 01001 1001 101101 1111 1001 1101 11101 1001 111010 1001 1111 111001 001101 1110 1110 1011 11001 111 00111 1101 0110 11001 0110 1001 11101 1101 11101 1010 10010 11 10010 1001 11101 100110 10010 1001 111010 10001 0011 01001 01101 11011 01001 1001 101101 1111 1111 101 11101 11111 10101 110110 10010 11101 11111 10001 10111 111010101
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 1,957
Words 344
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 93
Lines Amount 93
Letters per line (avg) 16
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,533
Words per stanza (avg) 342
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 03, 2023

1:45 min read
49

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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