Analysis of Digging
Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)
What matter makes my spade for tears or mirth,
Letting down two clay pipes into the earth?
The one I smoked, the other a soldier
Of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Malplaquet
Perhaps. The dead man's immortality
Lies represented lightly with my own,
A yard or two nearer the living air
Than bones of ancients who, amazed to see
Almighty God erect the mastodon,
Once laughed, or wept, in this same light of day.
| Scheme | AABCCDEFGC |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) Etheree (20%) |
| Metre | 1101111111 1011110101 0111010010 11101 010110100 101010111 0111100101 1111010111 010101010 1111011111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
| Characters | 401 |
| Words | 74 |
| Sentences | 4 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 10 |
| Lines Amount | 10 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
| Words per line (avg) | 7 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 318 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 72 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 22 sec read
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"Digging" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9838/digging>.
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