Analysis of Les pas

Paul Valery 1871 (Sète) – 1945 (Paris)



Tes pas, enfants de mon silence,
Saintement, lentement placés,
Vers le lit de ma vigilance
Procèdent muets et glacés.

Personne pure, ombre divine,
Qu'ils sont doux, tes pas retenus !
Dieux !... tous les dons que je devine
Viennent à moi sur ces pieds nus !

Si, de tes lèvres avancées,
Tu prépares pour l'apaiser,
A l'habitant de mes pensées
La nourriture d'un baiser,

Ne hâte pas cet acte tendre,
Douceur d'être et de n'être pas,
Car j'ai vécu de vous attendre,
Et mon coeur n'était que vos pas.


Scheme ABAB CACA BDBD DEDE
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1111110 1111 10111100 111111 11101 111111 11111101 111111 1111111 11111 011111 11111 1111111 11111111 11111111 11111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 503
Words 88
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 91
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

28 sec read
204

Paul Valery

Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. more…

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