Analysis of Preludium to Europe
William Blake 1757 (Soho) – 1827 (London)
The nameless shadowy female rose from out the breast of Orc,
Her snaky hair brandishing in the winds of Enitharmon;
And thus her voice arose:
'O mother Enitharmon, wilt thou bring forth other sons?
To cause my name to vanish, that my place may not be found,
For I am faint with travail,
Like the dark cloud disburden'd in the day of dismal thunder.
My roots are brandish'd in the heavens, my fruits in earth beneath
Surge, foam and labour into life, first born and first consum'd!
Consumed and consuming!
Then why shouldst thou, accursed mother, bring me into life?
I wrap my turban of thick clouds around my lab'ring head,
And fold the sheety waters as a mantle round my limbs;
Yet the red sun and moon
And all the overflowing stars rain down prolific pains.
Unwilling I look up to heaven, unwilling count the stars:
Sitting in fathomless abyss of my immortal shrine
I seize their burning power
And bring forth howling terrors, all devouring fiery kings,
Devouring and devoured, roaming on dark and desolate mountains,
In forests of eternal death, shrieking in hollow trees.
Ah mother Enitharmon!
Stamp not with solid form this vig'rous progeny of fires.
I bring forth from my teeming bosom myriads of flames,
And thou dost stamp them with a signet; then they roam abroad
And leave me void as death.
Ah! I am drown'd in shady woe and visionary joy.
And who shall bind the infinite with an eternal band?
To compass it with swaddling bands? and who shall cherish it
With milk and honey?
I see it smile, and I roll inward, and my voice is past.'
She ceased, and roll'd her shady clouds
Into the secret place.
Scheme | ABX CXXD XXAX XXBX XBDX CXBX XXXX XXBX XX |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010011110111 01110000111 010101 11011111101 11111101111111 1111101 1011100111010 111100010110101 1101011110101 010010 111111011011 11110111011111 0101101010111 101101 0101001110101 010111110010101 100101110101 1111010 0111010101001001 010000101011010010 01010101100101 1101 11110111100110 111111010111 01111101011101 011111 1111010101001 01110100110101 1101111011101 11010 11110111001111 11010101 010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,689 |
Words | 290 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 2 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 38 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 15, 2023
- 1:28 min read
- 142 Views
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"Preludium to Europe" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/39135/preludium-to-europe>.
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