Analysis of Earth's Answer
William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)
Earth raised up her head
From the darkness dread and drear,
Her light fled,
Stony, dread,
And her locks covered with grey despair.
'Prisoned on watery shore,
Starry jealousy does keep my den
Cold and hoar;
Weeping o're,
I hear the father of the ancient men.
'Selfish father of men!
Cruel, jealous, selfish fear!
Can delight,
Chained in night,
The virgins of youth and morning bear?
'Does spring hide its joy,
When buds and blossoms grow?
Does the sower
Sow by night,
Or the plowman in darkness plough?
'Break this heavy chain,
That does freeze my bones around!
Selfish, vain,
Eternal bane,
That free love with bondage bound.'
Scheme | ABAAB BCBBC CBDDB XBBDX EFEEF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (52%) |
Metre | 11101 1010101 011 101 001101101 1011001 101001111 101 1011 1101010101 101011 1010101 101 101 010110101 11111 110101 1010 111 10100101 11101 1111101 101 0101 1111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 639 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 97 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 349 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Earth's Answer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39096/earth%27s-answer>.
Discuss this William Blake 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