Analysis of The Great Misgiving
William Watson 1858 (Burley in Wharfedale) – 1935 (Rottingdean)
'NOT ours,' say some, 'the thought of death to dread;
Asking no heaven, we fear no fabled hell:
Life is a feast, and we have banqueted--
Shall not the worms as well?
'The after-silence, when the feast is o'er,
And void the places where the minstrels stood,
Differs in nought from what hath been before,
And is nor ill nor good.'
Ah, but the Apparition--the dumb sign--
The beckoning finger bidding me forgo
The fellowship, the converse, and the wine,
The songs, the festal glow!
And ah, to know not, while with friends I sit,
And while the purple joy is pass'd about,
Whether 'tis ampler day divinelier lit
Or homeless night without;
And whether, stepping forth, my soul shall see
New prospects, or fall sheer--a blinded thing!
There is, O grave, thy hourly victory,
And there, O death, thy sting.
Scheme | ABAB XCXC DEDE FGFG HIHI |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11011011111 10110111101 11010111 110111 01010101110 0101010101 1001111101 011111 110010011 01001010101 010010001 01011 0111111111 0101011101 1011111 110101 0101011111 1101110101 1111110100 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 835 |
Words | 145 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 121 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 100 Views
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