Analysis of On The Dark Height of Jura

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)



I.
Ghosts of the dead! have I not heard your yelling
Rise on the night-rolling breath of the blast,
When o’er the dark aether the tempest is swelling,
And on eddying whirlwind the thunder-peal passed?

II.
For oft have I stood on the dark height of Jura
Which frowns on the valley that opens beneath;
Oft have I braved the chill night-tempest's fury,
Whilst around me, I thought, echoed murmurs of death.

III.
And now, whilst the winds of the mountain are howling,
O father! thy voice seems to strike on mine ear;
In air whilst the tide of the night-storm is rolling,
It breaks on the pause of the elements' jar.

IV.
On the wing of the whirlwind which roars o'er the mountain
Perhaps rides the ghost of my sire who is dead:
On the mist of the tempest which hangs o'er the fountain,
Whilst a wreath of dark vapour encircles his head.


Scheme ABCBC AXXXX ABXBX XDEDE
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1 11011111110 1101101101 11011010110 011101011 1 111111011110 11101011001 1111011110 101111101011 1 011011010110 11011111111 011011011110 11101101001 1 1011011110010 011011110111 10110101110010 101111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 822
Words 156
Sentences 11
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 162
Words per stanza (avg) 39
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

47 sec read
47

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

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