Analysis of A Fish Answers

James Henry Leigh Hunt 1784 (Southgate, London) – 1859



Amazing monster! that, for aught I know,
With the first sight of thee didst make our race
For ever stare! O flat and shocking face,
Grimly divided from the breast below!
Thou that on dry land horribly dost go
With a split body and most ridiculous pace,
Prong after prong, disgracer of all grace,
Long-useless-finned, haired, upright, unwet, slow!

O breather of unbreathable, sword-sharp air,
How canst exist? How bear thyself, thou dry
And dreary sloth? WHat particle canst share
Of the only blessed life, the watery?
I sometimes see of ye an actual pair
Go by! linked fin by fin! most odiously.


Scheme ABBAABBA CXCXCX
Poetic Form
Metre 0101011111 10111111101 1101110101 1001010101 1111110011 101100101001 11011111 110110111 11011111 110111111 0101110011 1010110100 10111111001 11111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 603
Words 105
Sentences 11
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 233
Words per stanza (avg) 52
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

31 sec read
83

James Henry Leigh Hunt

James Henry Leigh Hunt, best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist, poet and writer. more…

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