Analysis of The Owls

Charles Baudelaire 1821 (Paris) – 1867 (Paris)



Among the black yews, their shelter,
the owls are ranged in a row,
like alien deities, the glow,
of their red eyes pierces. They ponder.
They perch there without moving,
till that melancholy moment
when quenching the falling sun,
the shadows are growing.
Their stance teaches the wise
to fear, in this world of ours,
all tumult, and all movement:
Mankind drunk on brief shadows
always incurs a punishment
for his longing to stir, and go.


Scheme ABBACDECFGDHDB
Poetic Form
Metre 01011110 0111001 110010001 11111110 1110110 1110010 1100101 01110 111001 11011110 1100110 111111 1010100 11101101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 432
Words 78
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 346
Words per stanza (avg) 76
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

23 sec read
400

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. more…

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