Analysis of Ballad



I KNOW my love is true,
And oh the day is fair.
The sky is dear and blue,
The flowers are rich of hue,
The air I breathe is rare,
I have no grief or care;
For my own love is true,
And oh the day is fair.
My love is false I find,
And oh the day is dark.
Blows sadly down the wind,
While sorrow holds my mind;
I do not hear the lark,
For quenched is life's dear spark,—
My love is false I find,
And oh the day is dark!
For love doth make the day
Or dark or doubly bright;
Her beams along the way
Dispel the gloom and gray.
She lives and all is bright,
She dies and life is night.
For love doth make the day,
Or dark or doubly bright.


Scheme aBaabbaBCDccddCDEFeeffEF
Poetic Form
Metre 111111 010111 011101 0101111 011111 111111 111111 010111 111111 010111 110101 110111 111101 111111 111111 010111 111101 111101 010101 010101 110111 110111 111101 111101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 619
Words 141
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 24
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 470
Words per stanza (avg) 138
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

42 sec read
173

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

All Paul Laurence Dunbar poems | Paul Laurence Dunbar Books

7 fans

Discuss this Paul Laurence Dunbar poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Ballad" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28665/ballad>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    1
    day
    16
    hours
    9
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem "The Waste Land"?
    A Sylvia Plath
    B Ezra Pound
    C T.S. Eliot
    D W.H. Auden