Analysis of Here They Trysted, And Here They Strayed

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



Here they trysted, here they strayed,
In the leafage dewy and boon,
Many a man and many a maid,
And the morn was merry June.
'Death is fleet, Life is sweet,'
Sang the blackbird in the may;
And the hour with flying feet,
While they dreamed, was yesterday.

Many a maid and many a man
Found the leafage close and boon;
Many a destiny began -
O, the morn was merry June!
Dead and gone, dead and gone,
(Hark the blackbird in the may!),
Life and Death went hurrying on,
Cheek on cheek--and where were they?

Dust on dust engendering dust
In the leafage fresh and boon,
Man and maid fulfil their trust -
Still the morn turns merry June.
Mother Life, Father Death
(O, the blackbird in the may!),
Each the other's breath for breath,
Fleet the times of the world away.


Scheme ABABCDCD EBEBXDXD FBFBGDGD
Poetic Form
Metre 111111 0011001 100101001 0011101 111111 1010001 00101101 111110 100101001 101101 10010001 1011101 101101 1010001 10111001 1110101 11111 001101 101111 1011101 101101 1010001 1010111 10110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 742
Words 148
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 192
Words per stanza (avg) 48
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
122

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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