Analysis of Self Reliance
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)
HENCEFORTH, please God, forever I forego
The yoke of men's opinions. I will be
Light-hearted as a bird, and live with God.
I find him in the bottom of my heart,
I hear continually his voice therein.
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The little needle always knows the North,
The little bird remembereth his note,
And this wise Seer within me never errs.
I never taught it what it teaches me;
I only follow, when I act aright.
| Scheme | ABCDEFGHIBC |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 1111010101 0111010111 1101010111 1110010111 11010001101 010101 010101101 0101111 0111011101 1101111101 110101111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 412 |
| Words | 78 |
| Sentences | 6 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 11 |
| Lines Amount | 11 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
| Words per line (avg) | 7 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 324 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 76 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 23 sec read
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"Self Reliance" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29850/self-reliance>.
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