Analysis of The Shadow Of Dawn

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



The shadow of Dawn;
Stillness and stars and over-mastering dreams
Of Life and Death and Sleep;
Heard over gleaming flats, the old, unchanging sound
Of the old, unchanging Sea.

My soul and yours -
O, hand in hand let us fare forth, two ghosts,
Into the ghostliness,
The infinite and abounding solitudes,
Beyond--O, beyond!--beyond . . .

Here in the porch
Upon the multitudinous silences
Of the kingdoms of the grave,
We twain are you and I--two ghosts Omnipotence
Can touch no more . . . no more!


Scheme XAXXX XXAAX XXXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 0111 10010101001 110101 110101010101 1010101 1101 1101111111 0101 010000101 0110101 1001 0101100 1010101 111101110100 111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 489
Words 85
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 126
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

25 sec read
81

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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