Analysis of On A Goldfinch, Starved To Death In His Cage
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Time was when I was free as air,
The thistle's downy seed my fare,
My drink the morning dew;
I perch'd at will on every spray,
My form genteel, my plumage gay,
My strains for ever new.
But gaudy plumage, sprightly strain,
And form genteel were all in vain,
And of a transient date;
For, caught and caged, and starved to death,
In dying sighs my little breath
Soon pass’d the wiry grate.
Thanks, gentle swain, for all my woes,
And thanks for this effectual close
And cure of every ill!
More cruelty could none express;
And I, if you had shown me less,
Had been your prisoner still.
Scheme | AABCCBDDEFFEGHIJJI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 0110111 110101 111111001 11011101 111101 11010101 01010101 010101 11010111 01011101 110101 11011111 011111 0111001 1101101 01111111 1111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 573 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 446 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 109 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 93 Views
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"On A Goldfinch, Starved To Death In His Cage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40010/on-a-goldfinch%2C-starved-to-death-in-his-cage>.
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