Analysis of The Sleeper
Walter de la Mare 1873 (Charlton, London) – 1956 (Twickenham)
As Ann came in one summer's day,
She felt that she must creep,
So silent was the clear cool house,
It seemed a house of sleep.
And sure, when she pushed open the door,
Rapt in the stillness there,
Her mother sat, with stooping head,
Asleep upon a chair;
Fast -- fast asleep; her two hands laid
Loose-folded on her knee,
So that her small unconscious face
Looked half unreal to be:
So calmly lit with sleep's pale light
Each feature was; so fair
Her forehead -- every trouble was
Smooth'd out beneath her hair.
But though her mind in dream now moved,
Still seemed her gaze to rest
From out beneath her fast-sealed lids,
Above her moving breast,
On Ann, as quite, quite still she stood;
Yet slumber lay so deep
Even her hands upon her lap
Seemed saturate with sleep.
And as Ann peeped, a cloudlike dread
Stole over her, and then,
On stealthy, mouselike feet she trod,
And tiptoed out again.
Scheme | XAXAXBCBXDXDXBXB XEXEXAXACFXF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101101 111111 11010111 110111 011111001 100101 01011101 010101 11010111 110101 1101101 110111 11011111 110111 010100101 110101 11010111 110111 11010111 010101 11111111 110111 10010101 11011 0111011 110001 1101111 01101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 896 |
Words | 166 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 12 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 344 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 82 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 17, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 58 Views
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