Analysis of Alarm Clocks
Joyce Kilmer 1886 (New Brunswick) – 1918 (Seringes-et-Nesles)
When Dawn strides out to wake a dewy farm
Across green fields and yellow hills of hay
The little twittering birds laugh in his way
And poise triumphant on his shining arm.
He bears a sword of flame but not to harm
The wakened life that feels his quickening sway
And barnyard voices shrilling "It is day!"
Take by his grace a new and alien charm.
But in the city, like a wounded thing
That limps to cover from the angry chase,
He steals down streets where sickly arc-lights sing,
And wanly mock his young and shameful face;
And tiny gongs with cruel fervor ring
In many a high and dreary sleeping place.
Scheme | ABBAABBA CDCDCD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Petrarchan sonnet |
Metre | 1111110101 0111010111 010111011 0101011101 1101111111 0111111001 01101111 11110101001 1001010101 1111010101 1111110111 011110101 0101110101 01001010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 605 |
Words | 116 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 240 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 57 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 95 Views
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"Alarm Clocks" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24629/alarm-clocks>.
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