Analysis of At Queensferry

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



The blackbird sang, the skies were clear and clean
We bowled along a road that curved a spine
Superbly sinuous and serpentine
Thro' silent symphonies of summer green.
Sudden the Forth came on us--sad of mien,
No cloud to colour it, no breeze to line:
A sheet of dark, dull glass, without a sign
Of life or death, two spits of sand between.
Water and sky merged blank in mist together,
The Fort loomed spectral, and the Guardship's spars
Traced vague, black shadows on the shimmery glaze:
We felt the dim, strange years, the grey, strange weather,
The still, strange land, unvexed of sun or stars,
Where Lancelot rides clanking thro' the haze.


Scheme ABBAABBACDDCDD
Poetic Form
Metre 0101010101 1101011101 10010010 1101001101 1001111111 111111111 0111110101 1111111101 10011101010 01110011 11111011 11011101110 011111111 110110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 637
Words 115
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 504
Words per stanza (avg) 113
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
106

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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