Analysis of Winter Dusk
Walter de la Mare 1873 (Charlton, London) – 1956 (Twickenham)
Dark frost was in the air without,
The dusk was still with cold and gloom,
When less than even a shadow came
And stood within the room.
But the three around the fire,
None turned a questioning head to look,
Still read a clear voice, on and on,
Still stooped they o'er their book.
The children watched their mother's eyes
Moving on softly line to line;
It seemed to listen too -- that shade,
Yet made no outward sign.
The fire-flames crooned a tiny song,
No cold wind moved the wintry tree;
The children both in Faerie dreamed
Beside their mother's knee.
And nearer yet that spirit drew
Above that heedless one, intent
Only on what the simple words
Of her small story meant.
No voiceless sorrow grieved her mind,
No memory her bosom stirred,
Nor dreamed she, as she read to two,
'Twas surely three who heard.
Yet when, the story done, she smiled
From face to face, serene and clear,
A love, half dead, sprang up, as she
Leaned close and drew them near.
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XCXC XDXD EFXF XGEG XHDH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11100101 01111101 11110011 010101 10101010 110100111 11011101 1111011 01011101 10110111 11110111 111101 010110101 11110101 0101011 011101 01011101 0111101 10110101 101101 11010101 11000101 11111111 110111 11010111 11110101 01111111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 959 |
Words | 178 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 25 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 186 Views
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