Analysis of The Spirit Medium

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



POETRY, music, I have loved, and yet
Because of those new dead
That come into my soul and escape
Confusion of the bed,
Or those begotten or unbegotten
Perning in a band,

I bend my body to the spade
Or grope with a dirty hand.

Or those begotten or unbegotten,
For I would not recall
Some that being unbegotten
Are not individual,
But copy some one action,
Moulding it of dust or sand,

I bend my body to the spade
Or grope with a dirty hand.

An old ghost's thoughts are lightning,
To follow is to die;
Poetry and music I have banished,
But the stupidity
Of root, shoot, blossom or clay
Makes no demand.

I bend my body to the spade
Or grope with a dirty hand.


Scheme xaxaBc DC Bxbxbc DC xxxxxc DC
Poetic Form
Metre 1001011101 011111 110111001 010101 1101011 1001 11110101 1110101 1101011 11111 11101 110100 1101110 1011111 11110101 1110101 1111110 110111 1000101110 100100 1111011 1101 11110101 1110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 641
Words 130
Sentences 5
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 6, 2, 6, 2, 6, 2
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 85
Words per stanza (avg) 21
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
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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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