Analysis of Ballade Of The Bookworm
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
Far in the Past I peer, and see
A Child upon the Nursery floor,
A Child with books upon his knee,
Who asks, like Oliver, for more!
The number of his years is IV,
And yet in Letters hath he skill,
How deep he dives in Fairy-lore!
The Books I loved, I love them still!
One gift the Fairies gave me: (Three
They commonly bestowed of yore)
The Love of Books, the Golden Key
That opens the Enchanted Door;
Behind it BLUEBEARD lurks, and o'er
And o'er doth JACK his Giants kill,
And there is all ALADDIN'S store, -
The Books I loved, I love them still!
Take all, but leave my Books to me!
These heavy creels of old we bore
We fill not now, nor wander free,
Nor wear the heart that once we wore;
Not now each River seems to pour
His waters from the Muses' hill;
Though something's gone from stream and shore,
The Books I loved, I love them still!
Fate, that art Queen by shore and sea,
We bow submissive to thy will,
Ah grant, by some benign decree,
The Books I loved--to love them still.
Scheme | ababxcbC ababxcbC ababbcbC acac |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10011101 010101001 01110111 11110011 01011111 01010111 11110101 01111111 11010111 11000111 01110101 11000101 01111010 010111101 011111 01111111 11111111 11011111 11111101 11011111 11110111 11010101 11011101 01111111 11111101 11010111 11110101 01111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 968 |
Words | 195 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 186 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 48 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 117 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Ballade Of The Bookworm" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2761/ballade-of-the-bookworm>.
Discuss this Andrew Lang poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In