Analysis of The Fairy

Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)



Said Ann to Matilda, 'I wish that we knew
If what we've been reading of fairies be true.
Do you think that the poet himself had a sight of
The fairies he here does so prettily write of?
O what a sweet sight if he really had seen
The graceful Titania, the Fairy-land Queen!
If I had such dreams, I would sleep a whole year;
I would not wish to wake while a fairy was near.-
Now I'll fancy that I in my sleep have been seeing
A fine little delicate lady-like being,
Whose steps and whose motions so light were and airy,
I knew at one glance that she must be a fairy.
Her eyes they were blue, and her fine curling hair
Of the lightest of browns, her complexion more fair
Than I e'er saw a woman's; and then for her height,
I verily think that she measured not quite
Two feet, yet so justly proportioned withal,
I was almost persuaded to think she was tall.
Her voice was the little thin note of a sprite-
There-d'ye think I have made out a fairy aright?
You'll confess, I believe, I've not done it amiss.'
'Pardon me,' said Matilda, 'I find in all this
Fine description, you've only your young sister Mary
Been taking a copy of here for a fairy.'


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIHHJJFF
Poetic Form
Metre 11101011111 11111011011 1111010011011 0101111111 11011111011 01001001011 11111111011 111111101011 1110110111110 011010010110 110110110010 111111111010 01101001101 101011001011 1110101001101 111111011 1111100101 11101011111 01101011101 111111110101 101101111101 101101011011 1010110111010 110010111010
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,128
Words 228
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 24
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 877
Words per stanza (avg) 222
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:09 min read
156

Charles Lamb

Charles Lamb was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children's book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–1847). Friends with such literary luminaries as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, and William Hazlitt, Lamb was at the centre of a major literary circle in England. He has been referred to by E. V. Lucas, his principal biographer, as "the most lovable figure in English literature". more…

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