Analysis of Zenas Witt

Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)



I was sixteen, and I had the most terrible dreams,
And specks before my eyes, and nervous weakness.
And I couldn't remember the books I read,
Like Frank Drummer who memorized page after page.
And my back was weak, and I worried and worried,
And I was embarrassed and stammered my lessons,
And when I stood up to recite I'd forget
Everything that I had studied.
Well, I saw Dr. Weese's advertisement,
And there I read everything in print,
Just as if he had known me;
And about the dreams which I couldn't help.
So I knew I was marked for an early grave.
And I worried until I had a cough,
And then the dreams stopped.
And then I slept the sleep without dreams
Here on the hill by the river.


Scheme ABCDEFGEHIJKLMNAO
Poetic Form
Metre 1101011011001 01011101010 01100100111 11101101101 011110110010 01101001110 01111101101 1011110 111110100 01111001 1111111 0010111101 11111111101 0110011101 01011 011101011 11011010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 681
Words 134
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 534
Words per stanza (avg) 132
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

41 sec read
212

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist. more…

All Edgar Lee Masters poems | Edgar Lee Masters Books

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