Analysis of A Song of Sighing
James Thomson 1700 (Port Glasgow) – 1748 (London)
Would some little joy to-day
Visit us, heart!
Could it but a moment stay,
Then depart,
With the flutter of its wings
Stirring sense of brighter things.
Like a butterfly astray
In a dark room;
Telling:--Outside there is day,
Sweet flowers bloom,
Birds are singing, trees are green
Runnels ripple silver sheen.
Heart! we now have been so long
Sad without change,
Shut in deep from shine and song
Nor can range;
It would do us good to know
That the world is not all woe.
Would some little joy to-day
Visit us, heart!
Could it but a moment stay,
Then depart,
With the luster of its wings
Lighting dreams of happy things,
O sad my heart!
| Scheme | ABABcc adadee fgfghh ABABccb |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
| Metre | 1110111 1011 1110101 101 1010111 1011101 101001 0011 1011111 1101 1110111 1010101 1111111 1011 1011101 111 1111111 1011111 1110111 1011 1110101 101 1010111 1011101 1111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 640 |
| Words | 120 |
| Sentences | 8 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 7 |
| Lines Amount | 25 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
| Words per line (avg) | 5 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 123 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 29 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 65 Views
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