Analysis of Retort
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
'THOU art a fool,' said my head to my heart,
'Indeed, the greatest of fools thou art,
To be led astray by the trick of a tress,
By a smiling face or a ribbon smart;'
And my heart was in sore distress.
Then Phyllis came by, and her face was fair,
The light gleamed soft on her raven hair;
And her lips were blooming a rosy red.
Then my heart spoke out with a right bold air:
'Thou art worse than a fool, O head!'
Scheme | AABABCCDCD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 1101111111 010101111 11101101101 1010110101 01110101 1101100111 011110101 0010100101 1111110111 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 410 |
Words | 90 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 10 |
Lines Amount | 10 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 307 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 85 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 26 sec read
- 253 Views
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"Retort" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28847/retort>.
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