Analysis of The Devil's Bag
James Stephens 1882 (Dublin) – 1950
I saw the Devil walking down the lane
Behind our house.—There was a heavy bag
Strapped tightly on his shoulders, and the rain
Sizzled when it hit him. He picked a rag
Up from the ground and put it in his sack,
And grinned and rubbed his hands.
There was a thing
Moving inside the bag upon his back—
It must have been a soul! I saw it fling
And twist about inside, and not a hole
Or cranny for escape! Oh, it was sad!
I cried, and shouted out, 'Let out that soul!'
But he turned round, and, sure, his face went mad,
And twisted up and down, and he said 'Hell!'
And ran away.... Oh, mammy! I'm not well.
Scheme | ABABCDECEFGFGHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101010101 01101110101 1101110001 1011111101 1101011011 010111 1101 1001010111 1111011111 0101010101 1101011111 1101011111 1111011111 0101010111 010111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 599 |
Words | 126 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 15 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 448 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 121 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 57 Views
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