Analysis of A Song From "The Player Queen"

William Butler Yeats 1865 (Sandymount) – 1939 (Menton)



MY mother dandled me and sang,
"How young it is, how young!'
And made a golden cradle
That on a willow swung.
"He went away,' my mother sang,
"When I was brought to bed,'
And all the while her needle pulled
The gold and silver thread.
She pulled the thread and bit the thread
And made a golden gown,
And wept because she had dreamt that I
Was born to wear a crown.
"When she was got,' my mother sang,
I heard a sea-mew cry,
And saw a flake of the yellow foam
That dropped upon my thigh."
How therefore could she help but braid
The gold into my hair,
And dream that I should carry
The golden top of care?


Scheme ABCBADEDDFGFAGHGIJKJ
Poetic Form Etheree  (25%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1101101 111111 0101010 11011 11011101 111111 01010101 010101 11010101 010101 010111111 111101 11111101 110111 010110101 110111 1111111 010111 0111110 010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 592
Words 128
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 457
Words per stanza (avg) 121
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
54

William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. more…

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