Analysis of The Clay

John Le Gay Brereton 1871 (Sydney) – 1933



When I cast my slough of clay
Put it quietly away.

Let no bloom untimely fade
Where my empty heart is laid.

Ask no folk to crowd around
With an air of woe profound.

Those who love me know that I
Cannot in a coffin lie.

Let them go where'er they will,
Dreaming of me living still.

Let no formal words be said
Customary for the dead.

Plant no stone above the pit:
Let the grass run over it.


Scheme AA BB CC DD EE FF GG
Poetic Form Couplet 
Metre 1111111 1110001 1110101 1110111 1111101 1111101 1111111 1000101 1111011 1011101 1110111 100101 1110101 1011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 383
Words 81
Sentences 8
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 43
Words per stanza (avg) 11
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

24 sec read
35

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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