Analysis of On Hearing

William Lisle Bowles 1762 (King's Sutton) – 1850



O stay, harmonious and sweet sounds, that die
In the long vaultings of this ancient fane!
Stay, for I may not hear on earth again
Those pious airs--that glorious harmony;
Lifting the soul to brighter orbs on high,
Worlds without sin or sorrow! Ah, the strain
Has died--even the last sounds that lingeringly
Hung on the roof ere they expired!
                                               And I
Stand in the world of strife, amidst a throng,
A throng that reckons not of death or sin!
Oh, jarring scenes! to cease, indeed, ere long;
The worm hears not the discord and the din;
But he whose heart thrills to this angel song
Feels the pure joy of heaven on earth begin!


Scheme ABCDABEFAGHGHGH
Poetic Form Tetractys  (27%)
Metre 11010001111 001111101 1111111101 11011100100 1001110111 1011110101 111001111 11011101 01 1001110101 0111011111 1101110111 0111010001 1111111101 10111101101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 675
Words 117
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 483
Words per stanza (avg) 115
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
119

William Lisle Bowles

William Lisle Bowles was an English poet and critic In 1783 he won the chancellors prize for Latin verse In 1789 he published in a small quarto volume Fourteen Sonnets which were received with extraordinary favour not only by the general public but by such men as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Wordsworth The Sonnets even in form were a revival a return to an older and purer poetic style and by their grace of expression melodious versification tender tone of feeling and vivid appreciation of the life and beauty of nature stood out in strong contrast to the elaborated commonplaces which at that time formed the bulk of English poetry more…

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