Analysis of The Green Linnet

William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)



BENEATH these fruit-tree boughs that shed
Their snow-white blossoms on my head,
With brightest sunshine round me spread
       Of spring's unclouded weather,
In this sequestered nook how sweet
To sit upon my orchard-seat!
And birds and flowers once more to greet,
       My last year's friends together.

One have I marked, the happiest guest
In all this covert of the blest:
Hail to Thee, far above the rest
       In joy of voice and pinion!
Thou, Linnet! in thy green array,
Presiding Spirit here today,
Dost lead the revels of the May;
       And this is thy dominion.

While bird, and butterflies, and flowers,
Make all one band of paramours,
Thou, ranging up and down the bowers,
       Art sole in thy employment:
A Life, a Presence like the Air,
Scattering thy gladness without care,
Too blest with any one to pair;
       Thyself thy own enjoyment.

Amid yon tuft of hazel trees,
That twinkle to the gusty breeze,
Behold him perched in ecstasies,
       Yet seeming still to hover;
There! where the flutter of his wings
Upon his back and body flings
Shadows and sunny glimmerings,
       That cover him all over.

My dazzled sight he oft deceives,
A Brother of the dancing leaves;
Then flits, and from the cottage eaves
       Pours forth his song in gushes;
As if by that exulting strain
He mocked and treated with disdain
The voiceless Form he chose to feign,
       While fluttering in the bushes.


Scheme AAABCCCB DDDEFFFE GGGHIIIH JJGBKKGB GLLXMMMX
Poetic Form Etheree  (33%)
Metre 01111111 11110111 1101111 11110 01010111 11011101 010101111 1111010 111101001 01110101 11110101 0111010 11001101 01010101 11010101 0111010 11010010 111111 110101010 1101010 01010101 10011011 11110111 111010 01111101 11010101 011101 1101110 11010111 01110101 10101 1101110 1101111 01010101 11010101 1111010 11110101 11010101 01011111 11000010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,374
Words 237
Sentences 10
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 40
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 211
Words per stanza (avg) 47
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:11 min read
124

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was the husband of Eva Bartok. more…

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