Analysis of The Sign

Frederic Manning 1882 (Sydney) – 1935 (Hampstead)



We are here in a wood of little beeches:
And the leaves are like black lace
Against a sky of nacre.

One bough of clear promise
Across the moon.

It is in this wise that God speaketh unto me.
He layeth hands of healing upon my flesh,
Stilling it in an eternal peace,
Until my soul reaches out myriad and infinite hands
Toward him,
And is eased of its hunger.

And I know that this passes:
This implacable fury and torment of men,
As a thing insensate and vain:
And the stillness hath said unto me,
Over the tumult of sounds and shaken flame,
Out of the terrible beauty of wrath,
I alone am eternal.

One bough of clear promise
Across the moon


Scheme aab AC dxaaxb axxdxxx AC
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1110011101 0011111 010111 111110 0101 11011111101 1111100111 11010101 011110110001001 011 0111110 0111110 10100100111 101101 001011101 10010110101 1101001011 1011010 111110 0101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 646
Words 125
Sentences 6
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 3, 2, 6, 7, 2
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 100
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
86

Frederic Manning

Frederic Manning was an Australian poet and novelist. more…

All Frederic Manning poems | Frederic Manning Books

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