Analysis of Ephemera

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



'YOUR eyes that once were never weary of mine
Are bowed in sotrow under pendulous lids,
Because our love is waning.'
And then She:
'Although our love is waning, let us stand
By the lone border of the lake once more,
Together in that hour of gentleness
When the poor tired child, passion, falls asleep.
How far away the stars seem, and how far
Is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart!'
Pensive they paced along the faded leaves,
While slowly he whose hand held hers replied:
'Passion has often worn our wandering hearts.'
The woods were round them, and the yellow leaves
Fell like faint meteors in the gloom, and once
A rabbit old and lame limped down the path;
Autumn was over him:  and now they stood
On the lone border of the lake once more:
Turning, he saw that she had thrust dead leaves
Gathered in silence, dewy as her eyes,
In bosom and hair.
'Ah, do not mourn,' he said,
'That we are tired, for other loves await us;
Hate on and love through unrepining hours.
Before us lies eternity; our souls
Are love, and a continual farewell.'


Scheme ABCDEFGHIJKLMKNOPFKQRSGTUV
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101011 1101101001 01101110 011 1101110111 1011010111 01001101100 10110110101 1101011011 11011011111 1011010101 1101111001 101101101001 0101100101 11110000101 0101011101 1011010111 1011010111 1011111111 1001010101 01001 111111 111101101011 11011110 01110100101 110001001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,026
Words 201
Sentences 8
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 26
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 806
Words per stanza (avg) 195
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

58 sec read
158

William Butler Yeats

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

All William Butler Yeats poems | William Butler Yeats Books

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