Analysis of Song. Hope

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)



And said I that all hope was fled,
That sorrow and despair were mine,
That each enthusiast wish was dead,
Had sank beneath pale Misery’s shrine.--

Seest thou the sunbeam's yellow glow,
That robes with liquid streams of light;
Yon distant Mountain's craggy brow.
And shows the rocks so fair,--so bright--

Tis thus sweet expectation’s ray,
In softer view shows distant hours,
And portrays each succeeding day,
As dressed in fairer, brighter flowers,--

The vermeil tinted flowers that blossom;
Are frozen but to bud anew,
Then sweet deceiver calm my bosom,
Although thy visions be not true,--

Yet true they are,—and I’ll believe,
Thy whisperings soft of love and peace,
God never made thee to deceive,
'Tis sin that bade thy empire cease.

Yet though despair my life should gloom,
Though horror should around me close,
With those I love, beyond the tomb,
Hope shows a balm for all my woes.


Scheme ABAB XCXC DEDE FGFG HIHI JXJX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (83%)
Metre 01111111 11000101 11010111 1101111 1101101 11110111 11010101 01011111 1110101 010111010 00110101 110101010 011010110 11011101 1111110 1110111 11110101 1111101 11011101 111111001 11011111 11010111 11110101 11011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 895
Words 160
Sentences 6
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 115
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

48 sec read
97

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

All Percy Bysshe Shelley poems | Percy Bysshe Shelley Books

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