Analysis of Lights Out
Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)
I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest where all must lose
Their way, however straight,
Or winding, soon or late;
They cannot choose.
Many a road and track
That, since the dawn's first crack,
Up to the forest brink,
Deceived the travellers,
Suddenly now blurs,
And in they sink.
Here love ends,
Despair, ambition ends,
All pleasure and all trouble,
Although most sweet or bitter,
Here ends in sleep that is sweeter
Than tasks most noble.
There is not any book
Or face of dearest look
That I would not turn from now
To go into the unknown
I must enter and leave alone
I know not how.
The tall forest towers;
Its cloudy foliage lowers
Ahead, shelf above shelf;
Its silence I hear and obey
That I may lose my way
And myself.
Scheme | AABCCB DDEFFE GGHIIH JJKLLK FFMNNM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (30%) Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 111101011 0010001 101111 11101 110111 1101 100101 110111 110101 010100 10011 0011 111 010101 1100110 111110 11011110 11110 111101 111101 1111111 1101001 11100101 1111 011010 1101010 011011 11011001 111111 01 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 752 |
Words | 141 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 117 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 97 Views
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"Lights Out" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9863/lights-out>.
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