Analysis of The Song Of Shadows

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



"Sweep thy faint strings, Musician,
With thy long lean hand;
Downward the starry tapers burn,
Sinks soft the waning sand;
The old hound whimpers couched in sleep,
The embers smoulder low;
Across the walls the shadows
Come, and go.

Sweep softly thy strings, Musician,
The minutes mount to hours;
Frost on the windless casement weaves
A labyrinth of flowers;
Ghosts linger in the darkening air,
Hearken at the open door;
Music hath called them, dreaming,
Home once more."


Scheme ABXBXCXC ADXDXEXE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010 11111 10010101 110101 0111101 01011 010101 101 11011010 0101110 110111 010110 110001001 110101 1011110 111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 462
Words 81
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 186
Words per stanza (avg) 39
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 01, 2023

24 sec read
110

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…

All Walter de la Mare poems | Walter de la Mare Books

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    Poet George McDonald wrote a two-word poem that reads _____ _____?
    A Good Bye.
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    D See You!