Analysis of The Sea and the Skylark

Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 (Stratford, London) – 1889 (Dublin)



On ear and ear two noises too old to end
Trench—right, the tide that ramps against the shore;
With a flood or a fall, low lull-off or all roar,
Frequenting there while moon shall wear and wend.

Left hand, off land, I hear the lark ascend,
His rash-fresh re-winded new-skeinèd score
In crisps of curl off wild winch whirl, and pour
And pelt music, till none ’s to spill nor spend.

How these two shame this shallow and frail town!
How ring right out our sordid turbid time,
Being pure! We, life’s pride and cared-for crown,

Have lost that cheer and charm of earth’s past prime:
Our make and making break, are breaking, down
To man’s last dust, drain fast towards man’s first slime.


Scheme ABBA ABBA CDC DCD
Poetic Form
Metre 11011101111 1101110101 101101111111 1001111101 1111110101 1111101111 0111111101 01101111111 1111110011 1111101011 1011110111 1111011111 10101011101 11111101111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 698
Words 126
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 131
Words per stanza (avg) 31
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 22, 2023

37 sec read
112

Gerard Manley Hopkins

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