Analysis of Because My Faltering Feet

Hilaire Belloc 1870 (La Celle-Saint-Cloud) – 1953



Because my faltering feet may fail to dare
The first descendant of the steps of Hell
Give me the Word in time that triumphs there.
I too must pass into the misty hollow
Where all our living laughter stops: and hark!
The tiny stuffless voices of the dark
Have called me, called me, till I needs must follow:
Give me the Word and I'll attempt it well.

Say it's the little winking of an eye
Which in that issue is uncurtained quite;
A little sleep that helpsa moment by
Between the thin dawn and the large daylight.
Ah! tell me more than yet was hoped of men;
Swear that's true now, and I'll believe it then.


Scheme ABACDDCB EFEFGG
Poetic Form
Metre 01110011111 0101010111 1101011101 11110101010 11101010101 010110101 11111111110 1101010111 1101010111 10110111 010111101 010110011 1111111111 1111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 600
Words 118
Sentences 7
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 237
Words per stanza (avg) 58
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
117

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902, but kept his French citizenship. more…

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