Analysis of Dream-March
'Wasn't it a funny dream!--perfectly bewild'rin'!--
Last night, and night before, and night before that,
Seemed like I saw the march o' regiments o' children,
Marching to the robin's fife and cricket's rat-ta-tat!
Lily-banners overhead, with the dew upon 'em,
On flashed the little army, as with sword and flame;
Like the buzz o' bumble-wings, with the honey on 'em,
Came an eerie, cheery chant, chiming as it came:--
_Where go the children? Travelling! Travelling_!
_Where go the children, travelling ahead_?
_Some go to kindergarten; some go to day-school_;
_Some go to night-school; and some go to bed_!
Smooth roads or rough roads, warm or winter weather,
On go the children, tow-head and brown,
Brave boys and brave girls, rank and file together,
Marching out of Morning-Land, over dale and down:
Some go a-gypsying out in country places--
Out through the orchards, with blossoms on the boughs
Wild, sweet, and pink and white as their own glad faces;
And some go, at evening, calling home the cows.
_Where go the children? Travelling! Travelling_!
_Where go the children, travelling ahead_?
_Some go to foreign wars, and camps by the firelight_--
_Some go to glory so; and some go to bed_!
Some go through grassy lanes leading to the city--
Thinner grow the green trees and thicker grows the dust;
Ever, though, to little people any path is pretty
So it leads to newer lands, as they know it must.
Some go to singing less; some go to list'ning;
Some go to thinking over ever-nobler themes;
Some go anhungered, but ever bravely whistling,
Turning never home again only in their dreams.
_Where go the children? Travelling! Travelling_!
_Where go the children, travelling ahead_?
_Some go to conquer things; some go to try them_;
_Some go to dream them; and some go to bed_!
Scheme | ababcdcd EBxb fafa ghgh EBbb ijijekek EBcb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101011001 11010101011 1111011100110 1010101010111 1010101101011 110101011101 1011101101011 11101011111 110101001 110101001 11110011111 1111101111 11111111010 110101101 11011101010 101110110101 1101101010 11010110101 110101111110 01111010101 110101001 110101001 11110101101 11110101111 111101101010 101011010101 10111010101110 111110111111 11110111111 111101010101 1111101010 101010110011 110101001 110101001 11110111111 1111101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,749 |
Words | 306 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 196 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 124 Views
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"Dream-March" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20870/dream-march>.
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