Analysis of Mistletoe

Walter de la Mare 1873 (Charlton, London) – 1956 (Twickenham)



Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen - and kissed me there.


Scheme aAaxxbb aaAccbb
Poetic Form
Metre 1010010 111010 1110101 1010101 1110101 11010 1110111 10111111 1010010 111010 11111110 111111010 100101001 1010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 440
Words 76
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 7
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 174
Words per stanza (avg) 37
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 16, 2023

22 sec read
267

Walter de la Mare

Walter John de la Mare was an English poet short story writer and novelist best remembered for his works for children and The Listeners He was born in Kent and was educated at St Pauls Cathedral School His first book Songs of Childhood was published under the name Walter Ramal His 1921 novel Memoirs of a Midget won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction more…

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