Analysis of Letter In Verse
John Clare 1793 (Helpston) – 1864 (St Andrew's Hospital)
Like boys that run behind the loaded wain
For the mere joy of riding back again,
When summer from the meadow carts the hay
And school hours leave them half a day to play;
So I with leisure on three sides a sheet
Of foolscap dance with poesy's measured feet,
Just to ride post upon the wings of time
And kill a care, to friendship turned in rhyme.
The muse's gallop hurries me in sport
With much to read and little to divert,
And I, amused, with less of wit than will,
Run till I tire.--And so to cheat her still.
Like children running races who shall be
First in to touch the orchard wall or tree,
The last half way behind, by distance vext,
Turns short, determined to be first the next;
So now the muse has run me hard and long--
I'll leave at once her races and her song;
And, turning round, laugh at the letter's close
And beat her out by ending it in prose.
Scheme | ABCCDDEEFGHHIIDJKKLM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 1111010101 1011110101 110101101 01101110111 1111011101 11111101 1111010111 0101110101 011010101 1111010101 0101111111 11110011101 1101010111 1011010111 0111011101 1101011101 1101111101 1111010001 010111011 0101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 850 |
Words | 172 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 665 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 169 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 52 sec read
- 91 Views
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"Letter In Verse" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22249/letter-in-verse>.
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