Analysis of Old-Fashioned Child.

Robert Crawford 1959 (Bellshill)



He was born old; they who got him were grey,
And quaint as things that long had seasoned here
When that he came — a too true vintage of
The lateness of the brewing blood and brain;
Even as in their whims and ways he had
Existed, an imaginary thing,
Twin-lived in him and her e'en long before
They were united in the dream of love.
And therefore comes it that his young life wears
So old a countenance, that he in sooth
Is so too grown-up in his ways and whims;
Unlike the youngling of an early pair,
Who's ta'en the freshness of their favour on,
And is as frisky as the youth of love.


Scheme ABCDEFGCHIJKLC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111101 0111111101 1111011101 0101010101 1010110111 010101001 11010011101 1001000111 011111111 1101001101 1111101101 010111101 1110101111 0111010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 581
Words 118
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 452
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
112

Robert Crawford

Robert Crawford FRSE FBA is a Scottish poet, scholar and critic. He is currently Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.  more…

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