Analysis of Music

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



Down the quiet eve,
Thro' my window with the sunset
Pipes to me a distant organ
Foolish ditties;

And, as when you change
Pictures in a magic lantern,
Books, beds, bottles, floor, and ceiling
Fade and vanish,

And I'm well once more . . .
August flares adust and torrid,
But my heart is full of April
Sap and sweetness.

In the quiet eve
I am loitering, longing, dreaming . . .
Dreaming, and a distant organ
Pipes me ditties.

I can see the shop,
I can smell the sprinkled pavement,
Where she serves-her chestnut chignon
Thrills my senses!

O, the sight and scent,
Wistful eve and perfumed pavement!
In the distance pipes an organ . . .
The sensation

Comes to me anew,
And my spirit for a moment
Thro' the music breathes the blessed
Airs of London.


Scheme AXBC XXDX XXXX ADBC XEBX XEBB XEXB
Poetic Form
Metre 10101 1110101 11101010 1010 01111 10001010 11101010 1010 01111 1011010 11111110 1010 00101 111001010 10001010 1110 11101 11101010 111011 1110 10101 10100110 00101110 0010 11101 01101010 1010101 1110
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 724
Words 132
Sentences 15
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 81
Words per stanza (avg) 20
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

39 sec read
161

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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