The Owl



When cats run home and light is come,
    And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
    And the whirring sail goes round,
    And the whirring sail goes round;
          Alone and warming his five wits,
          The white owl in the belfry sits.

When merry milkmaids click the latch,
    And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
    Twice or thrice his roundelay,
    Twice or thrice his roundelay;
          Alone and warming his five wits,
          The white owl in the belfry sits.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

27 sec read
525

Quick analysis:

Scheme abaBBCC dxdEECC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 541
Words 91
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 7

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets.  more…

All Alfred Lord Tennyson poems | Alfred Lord Tennyson Books

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