Analysis of The Path
Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)
RUNNING along a bank, a parapet
That saves from the precipitous wood below
The level road, there is a path. It serves
Children for looking down the long smooth steep,
Between the legs of beech and yew, to where
A fallen tree checks the sight: while men and women
Content themselves with the road and what they see
Over the bank, and what the children tell.
The path, winding like silver, trickles on,
Bordered and even invaded by thinnest moss
That tries to cover roots and crumbling chalk
With gold, olive, and emerald, but in vain.
The children wear it. They have flattened the bank
On top, and silvered it between the moss
With the current of their feet, year after year.
But the road is houseless, and leads not to school.
To see a child is rare there, and the eye
Has but the road, the wood that overhangs
And underyawns it, and the path that looks
As if it led on to some legendary
Or fancied place where men have wished to go
And stay; till, sudden, it ends where the wood ends.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKLMJNOPQRGBS |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 100101010 11100100101 0101110111 1011010111 0101110111 010110111010 10011010111 1001010101 0110110101 100100101101 11110101001 1110010101 01011111001 110110101 10101111101 1011101111 1101111001 110101110 01100111 1111111100 1101111111 01110111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 993 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 773 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 185 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 123 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Path" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9902/the-path>.
Discuss this Edward Thomas poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In