Analysis of A March Day in London

Amy Levy 1861 (London) – 1889 (London)



The east wind blows in the street to-day;
The sky is blue, yet the town looks grey.
'Tis the wind of ice, the wind of fire,
Of cold despair and of hot desire,
Which chills the flesh to aches and pains,
And sends a fever through all the veins.

From end to end, with aimless feet,
All day long have I paced the street.
My limbs are weary, but in my breast
Stirs the goad of a mad unrest.
I would give anything to stay
The little wheel that turns in my brain;
The little wheel that turns all day,
That turns all night with might and main.

What is the thing I fear, and why?
Nay, but the world is all awry--
The wind's in the east, the sun's in the sky.
The gas-lamps gleam in a golden line;
The ruby lights of the hansoms shine,
Glance, and flicker like fire-flies bright;
The wind has fallen with the night,
And once again the town seems fair
Thwart the mist that hangs i' the air.

And o'er, at last, my spirit steals
A weary peace ; peace that conceals
Within its inner depths the grain
Of hopes that yet shall flower again.


Scheme AABBCC DDEEAFAF GGGHHIIJJ KKFX
Poetic Form
Metre 011100111 011110111 1011101110 1101011010 11011101 010101101 11111101 11111101 111101011 10110101 1111011 010111011 01011111 11111101 11011101 11011101 0100101001 011100101 01011011 101011011 01110101 01010111 10111101 010111101 01011101 01110101 111111001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,005
Words 203
Sentences 10
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 8, 9, 4
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 195
Words per stanza (avg) 51
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

1:01 min read
267

Amy Levy

Amy Levy was a British essayist, poet, and novelist best remembered for her feminist positions and her homosexual romances during the Victorian era. more…

All Amy Levy poems | Amy Levy Books

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