Analysis of Open Speech

John Le Gay Brereton 1871 (Sydney) – 1933



Good friend of mine, you feel with me—
Your blood grows hot by sympathy
With something that I say or do;
Then speak—I want a word from you.

Let not the silence wrap you round
While you are living over-ground.
They say that earthly years are few;
Then speak—I want a word from you.

Perhaps I pass you in the street,
And when our eyes a moment meet,
I wonder are you wishing too;
Then speak—I want a word from you.

Are you, too, longing for a sign,
Yet fear to stretch a hand for mine?
What other am I writing to?
Then speak—I want a word from you.

Some way our thoughts together run,
Since both lift brow toward the sun
Beneath the self-same vault of blue;
Then speak—I want a word from you.


Scheme aabB ccbB ddbB eebB ffbB
Poetic Form Kyrielle 
Quatrain 
Metre 11111111 11111100 11011111 11110111 11010111 11110101 11110111 11110111 01111001 011010101 11011101 11110111 11110101 11110111 11011101 11110111 111010101 11110101 01011111 11110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 691
Words 137
Sentences 9
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 106
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

41 sec read
118

John Le Gay Brereton

John Le Gay Brereton was an Australian poet, critic and professor of English at the University of Sydney. He was the first president of the Fellowship of Australian Writers when it was formed in Sydney in 1928. more…

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