Analysis of Once there came a man

Stephen Crane 1871 – 1900



Once there came a man
Who said,
"Range me all men of the world in rows."
And instantly
There was terrific clamour among the people
Against being ranged in rows.
There was a loud quarrel, world-wide.
It endured for ages;
And blood was shed
By those who would not stand in rows,
And by those who pined to stand in rows.
Eventually, the man went to death, weeping.
And those who staid in bloody scuffle
Knew not the great simplicity.


Scheme ABCDECFGBCCHED
Poetic Form
Metre 11101 11 111110101 0100 11010101010 0110101 11011011 101110 0111 11111101 011111101 010000111110 011101010 11010100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 438
Words 83
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 336
Words per stanza (avg) 80
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 17, 2023

24 sec read
592

Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane was an American politician from Elizabethtown who was a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776. more…

All Stephen Crane poems | Stephen Crane Books

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