Analysis of Clock-O'-Clay
John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)
In the cowslip pips I lie,
Hidden from the buzzing fly,
While green grass beneath me lies,
Pearled with dew like fishes' eyes,
Here I lie, a clock-o'-clay,
Waiting for the time o' day.
While the forest quakes surprise,
And the wild wind sobs and sighs,
My home rocks as like to fall,
On its pillar green and tall;
When the pattering rain drives by
Clock-o'-clay keeps warm and dry.
Day by day and night by night,
All the week I hide from sight;
In the cowslip pips I lie,
In the rain still warm and dry;
Day and night and night and day,
Red, black-spotted clock-o'-clay.
My home shakes in wind and showers,
Pale green pillar topped with flowers,
Bending at the wild wind's breath,
Till I touch the grass beneath;
Here I live, lone clock-o'-clay,
Watching for the time of day.
Scheme | Aabbcc bbddaa eeAacc ffxxcc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0010111 1010101 1110111 1111101 1110111 1010111 1010101 0011101 1111111 1110101 101111 1111101 1110111 1011111 0010111 0011101 1010101 1110111 11101010 11101110 1010111 1110101 1111111 1010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 760 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 148 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 36 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 122 Views
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"Clock-O'-Clay" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22211/clock-o%27-clay>.
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