Analysis of At a Lunar Eclipse
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
Thy shadow, Earth, from Pole to Central Sea,
Now steals along upon the Moon's meek shine
In even monochrome and curving line
Of imperturbable serenity.
How shall I link such sun-cast symmetry
With the torn troubled form I know as thine,
That profile, placid as a brow divine,
With continents of moil and misery?
And can immense Mortality but throw
So small a shade, and Heaven's high human scheme
Be hemmed within the coasts yon arc implies?
Is such the stellar gauge of earthly show,
Nation at war with nation, brains that teem,
Heroes, and women fairer than the skies?
Scheme | ABBA ABBA CDE CDE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111101 1101010111 010100101 110100 1111111100 1011011111 111010101 1100110100 0101010011 11010101101 1101011101 1101011101 1011110111 1001010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 578 |
Words | 102 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 113 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 31 sec read
- 142 Views
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"At a Lunar Eclipse" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/36334/at-a-lunar-eclipse>.
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