Analysis of The Mountain Tomb

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



POUR wine and dance if manhood still have pride,
Bring roses if the rose be yet in bloom;
The cataract smokes upon the mountain side,
Our Father Rosicross is in his tomb.
Pull down the blinds, bring fiddle and clarionet
That there be no foot silent in the room
Nor mouth from kissing, nor from wine unwet;
Our Father Rosicross is in his tomb.
In vain, in pain; the cataract still cries;
The everlasting taper lights the gloom;
All wisdom shut into his onyx eyes,
Our Father Rosicross sleeps in his tomb.


Scheme abaBabaBcbcb
Poetic Form
Metre 110111111 1101011101 01001010101 101011011 110111001 1111110001 111101111 101011011 0101010011 001010101 1101011101 101011011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 500
Words 94
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 398
Words per stanza (avg) 92
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

28 sec read
188

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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