Analysis of We Flash Across The Level

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



We flash across the level.
We thunder thro' the bridges.
We bicker down the cuttings.
We sway along the ridges.

A rush of streaming hedges,
Of jostling lights and shadows,
Of hurtling, hurrying stations,
Of racing woods and meadows.

We charge the tunnels headlong -
The blackness roars and shatters.
We crash between embankments -
The open spins and scatters.

We shake off the miles like water,
We might carry a royal ransom;
And I think of her waiting, waiting,
And long for a common hansom.


Scheme XAXA XBXB XXXA XCXC
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 1101010 1101010 1101010 1101010 0111010 1100101 11010010 110101 110101 0101010 1101010 010101 11101110 111001010 011101010 01101010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 485
Words 88
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 97
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

26 sec read
131

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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    Which of these famous poems is written in villanelle form?
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    B Funeral Blues
    C Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
    D Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night