Analysis of Until The Night

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



Over the ocean of life’s commotion
 We sail till the night comes on.
Sail and sail in a tiny boat,
 Drifting wherever the billows go.
Out on the treacherous sea afloat,
 Beat by the cruel winds that blow,
Hither and thither our boat is drawn,
Till the day dies out and the night comes on.

Over a meadow of light and shadow
 We wander with weary feet,
Seeking a bauble men call “Fame, ”
 Grasping the dead-sea fruit named “wealth, ”
Finding each but an empty name,
 And the night – the night steals on by stealth,
And we count the season of slumber sweet,
When hope lies dead in the arms of defeat.

Over the river a great Forever
 Stretches beyond our sight.
But I know by the glistening pearly gates
 Afar from the region of strife and sin,
A beautiful angel always waits
 To welcome the sheep of the shepherd in.
And out of the shadows of gloom and night,
They enter the mansion of peace and light.


Scheme XABCBCXA CDEFEFDD XGHIHIGG
Poetic Form
Metre 1001011010 1110111 10100101 100100101 110100101 11010111 100110111 1011100111 10011101 1101101 10010111 10011111 10111101 001011111 0110101101 1111001101 1001001010 1001101 11110100101 0110101101 01001011 1100110100 011011101 1100101101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 906
Words 172
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 232
Words per stanza (avg) 57
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
64

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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