Analysis of To Sleep

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



FOND words have oft been spoken to thee, Sleep!
And thou hast had thy store of tenderest names;
The very sweetest, Fancy culls or frames,
When thankfulness of heart is strong and deep!
Dear Bosom-child we call thee, that dost steep
In rich reward all suffering; Balm that tames
All anguish; Saint that evil thoughts and aims
Takest away, and into souls dost creep,
Like to a breeze from heaven. Shall I alone,
I surely not a man ungently made,
Call thee worst Tyrant by which Flesh is crost?
Perverse, self-willed to own and to disown,
Mere slave of them who never for thee prayed,
Still last to come where thou art wanted most!


Scheme ABBAABBACDDCDE
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110111 011111111 0101010111 11111101 1101111111 01011100111 1101110101 101001111 11011101101 11010111 1111011111 0111110101 1111110111 1111111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 624
Words 116
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 494
Words per stanza (avg) 114
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

34 sec read
445

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was the husband of Eva Bartok. more…

All William Wordsworth poems | William Wordsworth Books

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